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Monetary Policy Committee (MPC),  The seventh meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), constituted under section 45ZB of the amended Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, was held on October 3 and 4, 2017 at the Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai.  The meeting was attended by all the members – Dr. Chetan Ghate, Professor, Indian Statistical Institute; Dr. Pami Dua, Director, Delhi School of Economics; Dr. Ravindra H. Dholakia, Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad; Dr. Michael Debabrata Patra, Executive Director (the officer of the Reserve Bank nominated by the Central Board under Section 45ZB(2)(c) of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934); Dr. Viral V. Acharya, Deputy Governor in charge of monetary policy – and was chaired by Dr. Urjit R. Patel, Governor Monetary Policy Committee (MPC),  keep the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.0 per cent. Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF remains at 5.75 per cent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.25 per cent. The decision of the MPC is consistent with a neutral stance of monetary policy in consonance with the objective of achieving the medium-term target for consumer price index (CPI) inflation of 4 per cent within a band of +/- 2 per cent, while supporting growth. The main considerations underlying the decision are set out in the statement below. Monetary Policy Committee (MPC),  Inflation is expected to range between 4.2-4.6 per cent in the second half of this year

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 The Reserve Bank reduced the Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR), the portion of deposits held by banks in government securities, by 0.5 per cent to 19.5 per cent, freeing over Rs. 57,000 crore to bank funds for lending.  According to bankers, it will not create much of a difference as several banks are holding in excess of statutory requirement.  RBI sets up Supervisory Colleges for six Scheduled Commercial Banks which have sizeable international presence  State Bank of India, ICICI Bank Ltd., Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Axis Bank Ltd. and Punjab National Bank.  The objectives of the colleges are to enhance information exchange and cooperation among supervisors, to improve understanding of the risk profile of the banking group and thereby facilitate more effective supervision of internationally active banks BSE inks Cooperation Pact with Egyptian Exchange  BSE has joined hands with Egyptian Exchange (EGX) for cooperation in exchange of information across business areas.  The exchange aim is to cross list and trade securities and It would provide new investment alternatives to investors in both markets.  The MoU between BSE and EGX represents an important step in integrating both the exchanges to build capital market flows.  Through this MoU a range of opportunities has been explored for the development of their businesses, products and markets to share knowledge and strengthen international connectivity Punjab National Bank ties up with Bajaj Allianz General for distribution. (BANCASSURANCE)  State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance have signed an agreement for the distribution of insurance products through the branches.  Under this agreement, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance will offer personal lines of insurance products such as health, personal accident, home, motor and travel along with commercial line of insurance products such as property, marine and engineering insurance, etc to the banks customers  The bank has widespread network of around 7,000 branches. SIDBI starts merchant banking operations for MSMEs  Small Industries Development Bank of India said it has started full fledged merchant banking operations to help medium and small enterprises (MSMEs) tap capital markets for their funding requirements.  The initiative would enhance access of MSMEs to capital markets including SME trading platform and institutional trading platform. Standard Chartered Bank launches Multicurrency Forex Card  Standard Chartered Bank has launched a 'Multicurrency Forex Card' that offers customers the convenience of loading up to 20 widely used currencies on one card.  The card comes with an online reload facility during overseas travel and is designed to offer travelers a secure way to carry money when travelling abroad.  Some of the currencies that can be loaded are the US dollar, Euro, British Pound, Singapore dollar, Swiss franc, Thai baht, Japanese Yen and South African rand

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Standard Chartered Bank Headquarters: London, United Kingdom CEO: Bill Winters  Karnataka Bank launches “Met Loan & Life Suraksha”  Karnataka Bank in association with its life insurance partner M/s PNB MetLife, today, announced the launch of ‘Met Loan & Life Suraksha’ (MLLS), a single premium plan covering the loan liability of a customer.  In the year of celebrating 15 years of its partnership with M/s PNB MetLife, Bank also introduced ‘KBL MLLS’ app exclusively for the KBL employees to instantly calculate the insurance cover and premium based on loan liability of their borrowers.  The loan product and mobile app was unveiled by Mr. Mahabaleshwara M.S., Managing Director & CEO, Karnataka Bank BoB signs MoU with DGS&D for services to govt's e-marketplace.  Bank of Baroda has entered into an agreement with Directorate General of Supplies & Disposal (DGS&D) for extending various banking services to Government e-Marketplace (GeM).  DGS&D has been mandated to set up GeM, an initiative intended to bring greater transparency and efficiency in public procurements.  The relationship of the bank with GeM will immensely benefit all stakeholders and ensure a support system including a dedicated team for seamless functioning of the portal  The Cabinet had in April 2017 approved creation of GeM Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which will replace DGS&D, nodal purchase organisation of the central government.  The GeM SPV has been established as National Public Procurement Portal to provide an end-to- end online marketplace for central and state government departments, their public sector undertakings, autonomous institutions and local bodies, for procurement of common goods and services in a transparent and efficient manner.  The DGS&D shall be wound up and cease its functions by October this year. "In case it is not possible to wind up DGS&D by October 31, 2017, the department may extend the date of closure with proper justification latest up to March 31, 2018," SEBI inks pact with ESMA for information exchange on CCPs  Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the European Securities and and Markets Authority (ESMA)  The MoU was signed for exchange of information concerning Central Counterparties (CCPs) under the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR). What is a 'Central Counterparty Clearing House - CCP'  A central counterparty clearing house (CCP) is an organization that exists in various European countries to help facilitate trading done in  European derivatives and equities markets. These clearing houses are often operated by the major banks in the country to provide efficiency and stability to the financial markets in which they operate. CCPs bear most of the credit risk of buyers and sellers when clearing and settling market transactions. ICICI Bank offers up to Rs 15 lakh instant personal loan via ATMs for 60 months  These customers can get pre-qualified personal loans up to 15 lakhs in their savings account instantly.

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 the facility offers a bouquet of features - swift application in simple steps, multiple eligible loan amount options up to Rs.15 lakh based on pre-checked CIBIL scores and instant transfer of the money to the customer’s account.  A Credit Score or the CIBIL Score is a three-digit numeric summary of your credit history. The score is derived using the credit history found in the CIR (Credit Information Report)  A CIR is an individual’s credit payment history across loan types and credit institutions over a period of time. A CIR does not contain details of your savings, investments or fixed deposits ICRA, IIFCL launch rating system for infra projects  A new system for rating of infrastructure projects has been launched by rating agency ICRA in association with the India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL)  The new system will focus on the overall recovery of dues by the investor/lender over the lifecycle of the project, besides retaining the valuable aspect of probability of default already adopted by the conventional rating scale. Rs 20 notes in Mahatma Gandhi 2005 series soon: RBI  The notes will be similar in design to those currently in circulation.  The new notes will be bearing inset letter ‘S’ in the number panel and signature of Governor Urjit R Patel. “Both the number panels will have inset letter S.

 Moreover, the bank said that the design of these banknotes to be issued now is similar in all aspects to the Rs 20 banknotes in the same series issued earlier.  RBI clarified that all the banknotes in the denomination of Rs 20 issued by the Bank in the past will continue to be legal tender  According to the detailed press release, the design and security features of these banknotes to be issued now is similar to the Rs 20 banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi Series- 2005 issued earlier, except the following:- Obverse Ascending font  The numerals in both the number panels will be in ascending size from left to right while the first three alpha-numeric characters (prefix) will remain constant in size Intaglio printing  The numeral “20”, RBI seal, Mahatma Gandhi’s portrait, RBI legend, Guarantee and promise clause, Governor’s signature, Ashoka Pillar emblem which were hitherto printed in intaglio (raised printing) are now being printed in offset (without any raised printing). Further, rectangular identification mark on the left of the banknote has been removed. Colour  While there is no change in the colour at the reverse, the colour at the obverse is lighter (due to removal of intaglio printing). Latent Image  The vertical band on the right side of the Mahatma Gandhi’s portrait hitherto contained a latent image showing the denominational numeral “20”.The latent image was visible only when the banknote was held horizontally at eye level. This feature is no longer present. Reverse  There is no change in the reverse of the banknote.

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SBI launches realty website 'SBI-Realty' to facilitate home buyers.  India's largest commercial bank SBI said it has launched a dedicated portal 'SBI Realty' that will help home buyers to choose flats from its 3,000 approved projects across the country  State Bank of India has taken another step towards customers' convenience by launching 'SBI Realty' – a one stop integrated website www.sbirealty.in for home buyers  SBI Realty will help customers to choose their dream home from 3,000 SBI approved projects, which are spread across 13 states and Union Territories covering 30 cities.  At present, there are 9.5 lakh home units available on the website. Customers can compare current and past trends of prices for the properties in various localities in the city YES Bank gets $150 mn from OPIC to fund SME lending.  Private sector Yes Bank has received $ 150 million funding from the US government and Wells Fargo to increase lending to support women entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises in India.  This is the third round of funding to the bank as part of arrangement with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) --the US government development finance institution -- and Wells Fargo.  Under the agreement, OPIC will provide $ 75 million in financing and up to $ 75 million in syndicated financing jointly arranged by Wells Fargo Bank to Yes Bank  $ 50 million of the financing would be used to expand support to women-owned businesses, while another equal amount will be used for financing SME business in low-income states. Rana Kapoor, managing director and CEO, YES BANK  SMEs contribute about 45% of industrial output and employ 42 million people in the country. Chhattisgarh govt to merge DCCBs (district cooperative central banks ) with state cooperative bank.  It aimed to serve the farmers with better and efficient banking facilities.  After the decision, all DCCBs will be amalgamated into one state cooperative bank. It will enact a strong financial infrastructure and emerge as a effective bank.  Although all 264 branches of the DCCBs will continue to function in the state as same as earlier but from now on will give its services as a scheduled cooperative bank.  The decision will be benefit the farmers and the interest rates will come down by another 1.5 to 2 per cent on loans to them.  This will directly affect the state government’s interest subsidy, where it will be saving Rs 40-50 crore annually.  Besides, the farmers will be getting modernised bank facilities at the village level along with ATM and Micro ATM services.  They can carry out transaction from any branch in any part of the state and very soon mobile banking and Internet banking facilities will be added.  The working capital of the cooperative bank will cross over Rs 10,000 crore after the merger and the bank will have enough money for disbursement of agriculture loans YES BANK Launches 'YES GST' Program to Assist MSMEs.  YES BANK, India's fourth largest private sector bank, along with YES Global Institute has launched 'YES GST' program for MSMEs(Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) under its MSME CSR initiative, 'Say YES to Sustainable MSMEs in India'.

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 YES BANK is organizing more than 3,000 events on GST over the next 6 months in partnership with National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO) and Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), among others.  The bank will help MSMEs to understand the impact of the changes in tax system and prepare them to know the new GST tax system  The Bank has also created a portal http://www.Yesbank.In/yes-gst which will be easy-to understand knowledge material of all GST related information.  YES BANK has set up a missed call no. (8080945075) for MSMEs to address their queries on GST SBI waives charge on IMPS fund transfer of up to Rs 1,000.  Country’s largest bank SBI has waived charges for fund transfer of up to ₹1,000 through its IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) to promote small transactions  IMPS is an instant interbank electronic fund transfer service through mobile phones as well as internet banking.  State Bank of India had been charging ₹5 along with the applicable service tax for IMPS fund transfer of up to ₹1,000  The charge will go up to ₹15 for transactions of ₹1-2 lakh.  GST at the rate of 18 per cent is applicable on all financial transactions. Axis Bank, IIC pact to boost trade with Latin America.  Axis Bank announced that it will help traders boost relations between India and Latin America and the Caribbean in a collaboration with Inter- American Investment Corporation.  It will facilitate trade with Latin America and the Caribbean in which Axis Bank will participate in the Trade Finance Facilitation Programme (TFFP) as a confirming bank.  Axis Bank said it is the first Indian Bank to be a part of such a facility.  The Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) will be acting on behalf of the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) 36th Foundation Day of NABARD celebrated on July 11 2017  Self Help Group Bank Linkage Programme (SHG BLP), the pioneering initiative of Financial Inclusion by NABARD completed 25 years during this year  Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley was the Chief Guest  And is well poised to deliver the savings and credit services at the doorstep of rural poor especially women through their self-managed institutions called SHGs  Commemorating this occasion, NABARD has dedicated its 36th Foundation Day to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of SHG Bank Linkage Programme  Since its pilot stage in 1992, the SHG Programme has come a long way in covering more than 10 crore rural families.  As on 31st March, 2017 these groups had savings of more than Rs 16,000 crore in banks and double of that amount in their internal lending.  The Program had a catalytic effect in sourcing collateral free loans to the tune of Rs 61,000 crore to these poor women from the mainstream banking system at the normal rates of interest.  With more than 8.5 crore rural women as the direct participants in this mass movement, NABARD celebrated the Silver Jubilee of SHG BLP at Vigyan Bhavan in national capital.  The Self-Help Group-Bank Linkage Programme (SBLP), which started as a pilot programme in 1992 has developed with rapid strides over the years.

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 SHG-Bank Linkage Programme was started on the basis of recommendation of S K Kalia Committee. FM launches a new tax payer service module Aaykar Setu  A new tax payer service module ‘Aaykar Setu’ , was launched by the Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley  This e-initiative would help in reducing physical interface between assesses and tax assessing authorities and thereby minimizing the chances of any tax harassment.  The new step is an effort by the Income Tax Department (ITD) to directly communicate with the taxpayers, on a range of multiple informative and useful tax services aimed at providing tax information at their fingertips.  A taxpayer can do following works using the Aaykar Setu mobile app: -- Brings TRP at your doorstep -- Makes your returns preparation easier -- Provides you different tax tools -- Makes tax payments easier for you. -- Allows you to apply for PAN -- Allows you to track TDS -- Comes with a game 'Tax Gyaan' to teach you about taxes -- Offers a chat board for all your tax-related queries  All taxpayers who wish to receive such SMS alerts are advised to register their mobile numbers in the Aaykar Setu module.  The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) constantly endeavours to provide better taxpayer services and reduce taxpayer grievances. New schemes and e-initiatives to educate the taxpayers and deliver tax payer services in an effective manner are key to this effort Third tranche of Sovereign gold bond  The bonds will be sold through banks, Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd (SHCIL), designated post offices, and the National Stock Exchange and the BSE.  The SGB (sovereign gold bond ) scheme was launched in November 2015 with an objective to reduce the demand for physical gold and shift a part of the domestic savings, used for purchase of gold, into financial savings.  The Government of India, in consultation with the RBI (Reserve Bank of India), decides to issue sovereign gold bonds  Minimum investment in the bonds is one gram, with a maximum limit of subscription of 4kg grams per person per fiscal year Earlier 500 grams per person per fiscal year  According to the statement, the investment limit per fiscal year has been increased to 4 kg for individuals, 4 kg for Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) and 20 kg for trusts and similar entities notified by the government from time to time. What is the minimum and maximum tenure?  The tenure of the bond is for a period of 8 years. However, there are exit options from 5th year to be exercised on the interest payment dates.

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The Why should you go for it?  The price of the bond is linked to the gold price. When gold prices rise the value of your investment goes up. Moreover, the bond would earn you an interest 2.5 per cent per annum on the top of it. Then there are no annual recurring expenses compared with gold ETFs. You also save on handling and storage costs of physical gold. Investments can be used as collateral for getting a bank loan.  The investors will be compensated at a fixed rate of 2.50% per annum payable semi-annually on the nominal value.  India imports around 1,000 tonnes of gold every year, resulting in large-scale foreign exchange outflows.  Price of bond will be fixed in rupees on the basis of simple average of closing price of gold of 999 purity published by the India Bullion and Jewelers Association Ltd for the week (Monday to Friday) preceding the subscription period. Are they taxable?  Unlike physical gold, buying gold through gold bond scheme will save you from shelling 3% GST on gold. Also, Union Budget 2016-17 allowed any capital gains arising out of redemption of sovereign gold bonds to be tax exempt. But any capital gain due to a sale in secondary market before maturity results in taxation at 20% with indexation, if sold on or after three years, or would be subject to marginal tax rate if sold before three years. Nepal SBI launches first paperless Banking services.  The State Bank of India (SBI) has launched its flagship service INTOUCH in Nepal  Nepal Rastra Bank Governor Chirinjibi Nepal, SBI Banks then chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya and Indian Ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri, jointly inaugurated the new service in Nepal  It will offer customers products like Savings Bank, Saral Bachat Account and Combo Savings Account and the branch will have facilities like kiosks for account opening, debit card printing, and ATM.  It would be the first of its kind digital initiative in Nepal banking industry along with INTOUCH.  Under the Digital Village Initiative, the NSBL has adopted Jaharsing Pauwa village to provide financial literacy centres and other banking facilities to the 2,200 villagers.  The services to the 443 households would include an internet banking kiosk, free WiFi, POS utility at four merchant outlets, cash recycle machines.  The NSBL is among the fastest growing commercial banks in Nepal and enjoys a lead position in terms of penetration of technology products. NSBL is a JV between SBI and the Employees Provident Fund, Nepal,  MobiKwik, Samsung Pay to enable one-tap payment solution for e-wallet users  As part of the tie-up, MobiKwik wallet is now integrated with Samsung Pay Mini to enable one- tap payments at more than 1.4 million MobiKwikpowered merchants across the country.  MobiKwik's mobile wallet will also be available soon to Samsung Pay users.  There has been a massive growth in number of transactions using digital platforms in the country, especially after the government's move to scrap high-denomination notes in November  Samsung Pay, the mobile payments service of the world's largest handset maker, was launched in India in March this year.

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 It allows users to just tap and pay using the debit/credit cards and wallets stored on their mobile devices.  Samsung had unveiled a 'Mini' version of the platform that integrates UPI and mobile wallets to work on mid-range priced smartphones. It, however, does not support tap-and-pay using credit and debit cards like the main app. CEO Mobikwik : Bipin Preet Singh India to join new Global foreign exchange committee.  India will soon get a seat on the Global Foreign Exchange Committee (GFXC), a newly-constituted forum of central bankers and experts working towards promotion of a robust and transparent forex market.  The committee has been set up under the guidance of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), an international financial organisation owned by 60 member central banks, representing countries from around the world.  The GFXC was established in London during a meeting in May 2017 of public and private sector representatives from the foreign exchange committees (FXCs) of 16 international forex trading centres.  The newly expanded and formalised GFXC, replaces a similar but more informal organisation of eight FXCs from Australia, Euro area, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, UK and US.  It will now also include representatives from existing, or soon to be established FXCs or similar structures in China, India, Brazil, Korea, Mexico, South Africa, Sweden and Switzerland. The objectives GFXC  Promote collaboration and communication among the local FXCs and non-GFXC jurisdictions with significant FX markets...  Exchange views on trends and developments in global FX markets, including on the structure and functioning of those markets, drawing on information gathered at the various FXCs.  Promote, maintain and update on a regular basis the FX Global Code (the Code) and consider good practices regarding effective mechanisms to support adherence.  It will also maintain and update ‘Global Code of Conduct for the Foreign Exchange Markets’ issued by Bank for International Settlements (BIS). HQ BIS - Basel, Switzerland General manager - Jaime Caruana RBI considering setting up Public Credit Registry in India  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may consider setting up a Public Credit Registry (PCR), which will be an extensive database of credit information for India that is accessible to all stakeholders  RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya highlighted the need to set up a public credit registry while delivering the theme talk at the 11th Statistics Day Conference.  Reserve Bank celebrated its ‘11th Annual Statistics Day Conference’ on July 04, 2017 on the Theme ‘New Frontiers on Statistical Methods and Information Base for Central Banks’.  According to the World Bank Doing Business Project, "Public credit registry coverage reports the number of individuals and firms listed in a public credit registry with current information on repayment history, unpaid debts, or credit outstanding. The number is expressed as a percentage of the adult population."  They tend to be different from Credit Information bureau which tends to cater to the information requirements of commercial lenders and is privately owned.

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 While a public credit registry data are geared towards use by policymakers, regulators, and other officials and are generally owned by a central bank of a country.  Public Credit Registry is managed by a public authority like the central bank or the banking supervisor, and reporting of loan details to the registry by lenders and/or borrowers is mandated by law.  Acharya mentioned that public credit registry will help RBI in effectively monitoring delinquencies in credit market and intervene at an early phase.  It will bring in efficiency in the credit market by helping the lenders in appraisals and monitoring of the loan portfolio.  The registry will also help the cause of financial inclusion of the small businesses and individuals by allowing them to establish their reputation via the registry.  Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance ties up with Dhanlaxmi Bank for marketing bancassurance.  Private life insurance company Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance, has entered into an alliance with Dhanlaxmi Bank.  All the life insurance products of Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance would be made available to customers of Dhanlaxmi Bank and would be sold by the licensed staff of the bank.  Anuj Mathur, chief executive officer, Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company Limited  Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance has access to around 115 million customers and a pan-India network of over 9500 branches of the three shareholder banks  Dhanlaxmi Bank has a network of 260 branches and 371 ATMs covering 129 cities across India in 15 states and 1 union territory and a customer base of over 2 million. As part of the agreement, the bank will be a corporate agent for 3 years HQ Dhanlaxmi Bank : Thrissur, Kerala CEO Dhanlaxmi Bank : G. Sreeram RBI allows NBFCs to offer new pension scheme.  The Reserve Bank of India has allowed systematically important non banking finance companies to sell and market the new pension scheme (NPS).  NBFCs with asset size of Rs 500 crore and above that have made a net profit in the preceding financial year be permitted to sell NPS to their clients after registration with the pension regulator.  The New Pension Scheme was initiated by the government in 2009, giving people a route to avail a pension after they are retired or as a senior citizen.  Government employees already enjoy pension, and this new scheme was introduced to enable the people from unorganised sectors to enjoy the benefits of pension.  A contribution of a certain amount is made every month during the years when an individual is actively working.  This amount is invested as per the individual’s preference.  The money can then be withdrawn at a minimum age of 60 years.  There are a couple of options for investment to choose from based on the individual’s preference of asset allocation and withdrawal.  Eligibility Criteria for New Pension Scheme

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 The applicant for the scheme should be an Indian citizen  The applicant should be a minimum of 18 years of age  The applicant should be a maximum of 60 years of age  The minimum contribution to be paid is Rs. 500  The contribution has to be made at least once per year.  The minimum annual contribution should be Rs. 6,000  The maximum contribution to the scheme should not exceed Rs. 12,000 per annum Airtel Payment Bank ties up with HPCL for ATM services  Airtel Payments Bank, which has achieved 10 million customer base since launch, has tied up with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited .  For enabling all its petrol stations that are typically cash surplus to be used as ATM points for customers of the bank  All 14,000 HPCL fuel stations will act as banking points for Airtel Payments  These cashless payments can be made via smart phones (MyAirtel App) as well as feature phones (USSD), the company said.  The customer is not charged any transaction fee for these digital payments.  Airtel Payment Bank is a 80:20 joint venture between Bharti Airtel Ltd and Kotak Mahindra Bank. MD & CEO – Shashi Arora RBI constitutes internal group to improve MCLR  RBI announced in August that it has constituted an internal study group to study the marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) to improve monetary policy transmission.  This study group has been formed as the experience with the Marginal Cost of Funds Based Lending Rate (MCLR) system introduced in April 2016 for improving the monetary transmission has not been entirely satisfactory, even though it has been an advance over the base rate system  However, RBI did not elaborate on what exactly is the problem with the current MCLR regime.  The study group will also explore linking the bank lending rates directly to market determined benchmarks and will submit its report by September 24, 2017 The marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR)  It refers to the minimum interest rate of a bank below which it cannot lend, except in some cases allowed by the RBI  It is an internal benchmark or reference rate for the bank. MCLR actually describes the method by which the minimum interest rate for loans is determined by a bank - on the basis of marginal cost or the additional or incremental cost of arranging one more rupee to the prospective borrower  The MCLR methodology for fixing interest rates for advances was introduced by the Reserve Bank of India with effect from April 1, 2016.  This new methodology replaces the base rate system introduced in July 2010 Reasons for introducing MCLR  RBI decided to shift from base rate to MCLR because the rates based on marginal cost of funds are more sensitive to changes in the policy rates.  This is very essential for the effective implementation of monetary policy. Prior to MCLR system, different banks were following different methodology for calculation of base rate /minimum rate

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– that is either on the basis of average cost of funds or marginal cost of funds or blended cost of funds. Thus, MCLR aims  To improve the transmission of policy rates into the lending rates of banks.  To bring transparency in the methodology followed by banks for determining interest rates on advances.  To ensure availability of bank credit at interest rates which are fair to borrowers as well as banks.  To enable banks to become more competitive and enhance their long run value and contribution to economic growth SBI, Samsung collaborate to advance Digital India initiative.  The State Bank of India (SBI) and Samsung India announced the availability of Samsung Pay for higher variants of SBI debit card, giving a major boost to government's 'Digital India' initiative.  Samsung Pay works on 2.5 million Point of Sale (PoS) Card machines across the country through its Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology  Samsung Pay is currently available on a wide range of Samsung smart phones, enabling consumers to make offline payments without the need for a physical Card.  Company introduced Samsung Pay Mini to cater to the unique requirements of midsegment consumers India, ASEAN-5 more fetching to FDI than other emerging markets  India along with Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam is more attractive to FDIs as compared to other emerging markets, says a Nomura report.  The Japanese financial services major has dubbed India and ASEAN- 5 as "Asia's tiger cubs", and said FDI inflows to these nations will increase from around USD 100 billion per year now to around USD 240 billion by 2025. Factors that are expected to encourage FDI into India and ASEAN-5 include  large and growing domestic markets; reforms focussed on improving infrastructure and the ease of doing business; a more open and liberal FDI regime; sound economic management and political stability; and availability of low-cost labour  In terms of equity market implications, Nomura said in India, FDI is expected to flow into sectors that need growth capital (infrastructure, banks, ecommerce and hospitals) and those with strong long-term growth prospects (retail, automobiles, pharmaceuticals and diagnostics). SBI to raise 2000 crore via BASEL-III bonds  India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) plans to raise Rs 2,000 crore by allotting AT1 Basel- III compliant bonds to various investors.  Additional tier-1 (AT1) securities  SBI said the bonds will carry a coupon rate of 8.15% per annum with a call option after five years or the anniversary date thereafter. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announces new ETF-Bharat-22; Sectoral cap set at 20%.  The government announced the launch of its second exchange-traded fund (ETF), Bharat 22, which will comprise 22 stocks including those of central public sector enterprises (CPSEs), public sector banks and its holdings under the Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India (SUUTI).  Finance minister Arun Jaitley said the ETF will have a diversified portfolio of companies from six sectors with a 20% cap on each sector and a 15% cap on each stock

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 Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are essentially index funds that are listed and traded on exchanges like stocks.  “Present law permits the government to bring down government equity in PSBs to 52%,”  The government has set a “stiff target” of Rs72,500 crore for disinvestment in 2017-18 Asia Index launches S&P BSE Bharat 22  Asia Index Pvt. Ltd, an equal joint venture between S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and BSE Ltd, announced the launch of the S&P BSE Bharat 22 Index which is designed to track the performance of select blue chip government companies listed on BSE.  The S&P BSE Bharat CPSE Index comprises 22 selected companies of which 16 are Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE). 3 are from Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI) 3 are PSU Banks, and are listed on the BSE. S&P BSE Bharat 22 has been licensed to ICICI Prudential AMC for development of an exchange traded fund (ETF) based on the index.  It covers six sectors namely industrials, finance, utilities, energy, FMCG, basic materials and telecom Canara Bank hits overseas bond market with $400-mn issue.  State-run Canara Bank is in the international bond market with a $400-million issue as part of its $2-billion medium term note programme.  Canara Bank is in the international debt market with a benchmark dollar bond issue that will have a tenor of 5 years.  The lender is likely to raise $400 million through the bond sale issue, which will be drawn through its London branch and will be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange Kotak Bank’s new forex service ‘Kotak Remit’.  Kotak Mahindra Bank has launched Kotak Remit — an Aadhaar-based integrated outward forex remittance solution for both customers and non-customers.  The 24x7 forex remittance service offers a completely paperless process that enables users to register online using Aadhaar and PAN numbers, and initiate remittances instantly Remittances can be made in 15 currencies Available for resident individuals holding a savings account with any bank in India Companies to disclose bank defaults within one day: SEBI  In a first-of-its-kind move to increase debt disclosures by corporate entities, the market regulator tightened the norms for listed companies that end up defaulting on loan repayments.  The move by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) comes against the backdrop of Rs 10 trillion of stressed assets piling up in the banking system.  Currently, the Sebi Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements Regulations require specific disclosures on delay or default in payment of interest or principal on debt securities, including listed non-convertible debentures, listed nonconvertible redeemable preference shares, and foreign currency convertible bonds. Similar disclosures are not stipulated with respect to loans from banks and financial institutions  Sebi has directed that, starting 1 October, listed companies will need to disclose defaults on loan repayments within one working day.  Listed companies would need to inform exchanges in case they have defaulted in payment of interest, instalment obligations on debt securities, loans from banks and financial institutions and external commercial borrowings.

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 Companies would need to disclose date of default, name of the bank/financial institution that lent the money, default amount and gross principal amount on which the default occurred. MobiKwik partners Bajaj Finance for Larger financial service pie.  MobiKwik has entered into a strategic partnership with Bajaj Finance Ltd to transform itself into financial services App from a payment App.  Under this strategic partnership, Bajaj Finance has picked up 10.83 per cent equity stake in MobiKwik for about Rs. 225 crore and offer its lending (purchase finance, credit card, mortgage loans and personal loans) and insurance products to be sold through MobiKwik App.  MobiKwik, which current has user base of 55 million, will through this partnership immediately get access to about 100 million customers of Bajaj Finance.  Upasana Taku, Co-Founder, MobiKwik said From a combined customer base of 155 million it will aim to offer financial services to 300 million users in next couple of years Mastercard, PayPal expand partnership into Asia Pacific  Mastercard and PayPal have announced an extension of their partnership into Asia Pacific for making MasterCard a clear payment option within PayPal.  PayPal will add Mastercard as a payment method to their e-wallet and consumers can make it their default payment option.  Card Company will provide tokenization services and will enable mobile payments using PayPal’s digital wallet at more than 6.5 million contactless-enabled merchant locations across the globe.  The partnership will also add Master pass as a payment option for merchants that process payments via Braintree. Finance Ministry panel to resolve bank pensioner’s issues.  The Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, has set up a committee to resolve the pending issues of bank pensioners and retirees.  This is the outcome of a series of meetings the All India Pensioners and Retirees’ Confederation had with the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley; Minister of State Santosh Kumar Gangwar; and department officials.  Demands of the pensioners/retirees include : 100 per cent DA neutralisation for pre-2002 retirees; Improvement in family pension  Medical insurance and a medical benefit scheme. Pension updation.  Second options to compulsorily retired officers and resignees who have put in a pensionable service  AIBPARC (All India Bank Pensioners & Retirees Confederation) is an organisation of the Retirees, for the Retirees and by the Retirees of the Banking Sector. President AIBPARC : K V Acharya General Secretary : S R SenGupta ICICI bank launches instant credit card with the limit up to 4 lakhs.  It has launched instant credit cards enabling its savings account customers to get a credit card instantly, in a completely digital and paperless manner  The bank has opened up this offering to a few lakh of pre-qualified customers who can apply for the card online and generate card details and start shopping online instantly

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 Available round-the-clock and on all days, the bank has opened up the card with a credit limit of up to Rs four lakh based on prechecked bureau scores  It will also be available shortly on iMobile, the Bank’s mobile banking application IDFC Bank partners with ZETA for digital payments solution.  Private sector lender IDFC Bank has partnered with digital payments company Zeta, to launch ‘IDFC Bank Benefits’ - a payment solution for corporates that digitises employee spends and claims, making the process simple, real-time and paperless.  The end-to-end digital solution comprises an IDFC Bank Benefits Card and Zeta app which integrates the full suite of allowances and reimbursements offered by an employer into one preloaded card.  Employees can also access the Benefits Card via the Zeta app on mobile or web. This enables them to track spends, entitlement limits and submit claims, digitally, while on-the-move. CEO AND CO-FOUNDER ZETA : Bhavin Turakhia CTO AND CO-FOUNDER : Ramki Gaddipati PNB introduces Biometric attendance register  Punjab National Bank (PNB) has introduced a biometric attendance register in the place of the existing system of signing attendance in the attendance register.  The new system of marking attendance will be implemented in branches/offices with immediate effect, the circular issued on 3rd August.  The biometric attendance device will capture the attendance along with the time of marking the attendance. Canara Bank launches two new digital services. The two services are :  Bharat QR (Quick Response) is for payment settlement at merchant locations .  The first service is a mobile application, which enables a merchant to accept payments as settlement for sale of goods or services  "Merchants enrolled by Canara bank will be allotted a QR code in line with the Bharat QR code standards. As the solution is interoperable, customers of any bank can make the payment using the mobile banking facility of their bank.  The second product (BBPS), an initiative of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and managed by the National Payments Corp of India (NPCI), offers bill payment services to the bank's net banking customers with network of agents.  ”Bank enabled 144 billers covering telephone, electricity, water, gas supply, DTH (direct-to- home) and mobile networks among others.  The bank is allowing its customers to pay the bills at zero cost.  The government has set a 25 billion digital transactions target by the end of this fiscal year (2017-18) for all the banks across the country. Flipkart has become the third most funded private company globally  With the $2.4 billion it just received from Japanese technology and telecom giant SoftBank, Flipkart has become the third most funded private company globally.  The homegrown e-commerce company has to date raised almost $7 billion in capital, higher than that raised by global behemoths like online house rental aggregator Airbnb ($3.3 billion) and mobile phone maker Xiaomi ($1.4 billion).

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 The top two are both ride hailing platforms — Chinabased Didi Chuxing and US based Uber.  In April, Didi Chuxing raised $5 billion and increased its total fund raise to $15 billion, overtaking Uber that has raised $12.9 billion.  In the top 10, four are ride-hailing platforms, the other two being Silicon Valley-based Lyft and India's Ola.  Flipkart is the only e-commerce company in the top 10. The Flipkart funding reaffirms the faith of global players like SoftBank, Tiger Global, eBay, and Microsoft in Indian companies.  In valuation, Flipkart stands at the ninth position with about $15 billion. Uber is the most valued company at $68 billion, followed by Didi Chuxing at $50 billion, and Xiaomi at $46 billion Soft Bank : CEO and founder : Masayoshi Son SBI gives leg-up to CSR initiatives, adopts 50 villages.  The nation's largest lender State Bank of India launched a CSR initiative, SBI Gram Seva, which will work in the areas of health, education, environment and rural infrastructure  The SBI Foundation will identify and partner with NGOs to carry out CSR initiatives under which it adopt five villages each from 10 village panchayats with each village getting around Rs 2.40 crore over the next three years  SBI then Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharyahas mentioned that 10 gram panchayats comprising of 50 villages in six states have already been adopted, and the bank plans to adopt 100 gram panchayats in the next three years. City Union Bank offers instant credit cardS  The bank introduced the option of an “instant credit card” for free for its Net banking customers.  According to the Bank sources about 80 customers had generated a credit card on Day 1.  All that a customer has to do is log on to his/her net banking account and seek a credit card. Only, the customer must have a fixed deposit with the bank  The customer will be allowed a credit limit of up to 80 per cent of the deposit or a maximum of ₹3 lakh.  On capturing the PDF image of the card, the customer can go online shopping instantly. CUB has tied-up with MasterCard for the instant credit card. City Union Bank HQ : Tamil nadu CEO: Dr. N. Kamakodi Aadhar must for subsidised farm loans: RBI Reserve Bank of India (RBI  In line with the government's policy, the RBI said farmers can avail of short-term crop loans of up to Rs 3 lakh at subsidised interest rate of 7% that could go down to 4% on prompt repayment.  The RBI has also announced an interest subvention (subsidy by government) of 2% for the first year on loans that have been restructured following natural calamities.  To ensure hassle-free benefits to farmers under the Interest Subvention Scheme, the banks are advised to make Aadhaar linkage mandatory for availing of short-term crop loans in 2017-18," the RBI said. Interest Subvention Scheme  The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the Interest Subvention Scheme (ISS) for farmers for the year 2017-18.

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 This will help farmers getting short term crop loan up to Rs. 3 lakh payable within one year at only 4% per annum. The Government has earmarked a sum of Rs. 20,339 crore for this purpose.  The interest subvention will be given to Public Sector Banks (PSBs), Private Sector Banks, Cooperative Banks and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) on use of own funds and to NABARD for refinance to RRBs and Cooperative Banks  The Interest Subvention Scheme will continue for one year and it will be implemented by NABARD and RBI. The salient features of the scheme are as follows:  The Central Government will provide interest subvention of 5 per cent per annum to all prompt payee farmers for short term crop loan upto one year for loan upto Rs. 3 lakhs borrowed by them during the year 2017-18.  Farmers will thus have to effectively pay only 4% as interest. In case farmers do not repay the short term crop loan in time they would be eligible for interest subvention of 2% as against 5% available above  The Central Government will provide approximately Rs. 20,339 crore as interest subvention for 2017-18.  In order to give relief to small and marginal farmers who would have to borrow at 9% for the post harvest storage of their produce, the Central Government has approved an interest subvention of 2% i.e. an effective interest rate of 7% for loans upto 6 months. Karur Vysya Bank inaugurates AADHAAR enrolment centre in Chennai  The Unique Identification Authority of India had advised commercial banks to provide Aadhaar enrolment and updation facility at various branches in its July 13 notification.  Karur Vysya Bank identified the branches and and ensured early implementation of the service. KVB is the first private sector bank to provide this service in the country, the bank said in a release.  Unique Identification Authority of India, Assistant Director General, D M Gajare inaugurated the first Enrolment Centre at the Nelson Manickam Road branch at a function here. Karur Vysya Bank planned to expand the service to 75 more branches across the country. Axis Bank to waive 12 EMIs on home loans under Shubh Aarambh scheme.  In a bid to fortify its footprint in the affordable housing segment, Axis Bank — India’s third largest private sector announced the launch of a new home loan product – called Shubh Aarambh Home.  Under this scheme, borrowers applying for loans up to Rs 30 lakh will be able to avail the benefit of 12 EMIs’ waiver.  Customers with regular repayment will get 12 EMIs waived – 4 EMIs each after 4th, 8th and 12th year from the date of first disbursement. The effect of EMI waiver will be given in the form of reduction in the tenure of home loans.  The loans can be used to purchase an under construction/ ready/ resale house, apart from self- construction and plot plus construction. Customers also have the option to transfer any existing home loans to Axis Bank without any additional cost. NABARD Approves Rs 1,350-cr Loan to Rajasthan Government  The National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned a loan assistance of Rs 1,349.55 crore to the Rajasthan government for creation of rural infrastructure in the state under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF)

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 The sanction includes assistance for construction of two rural drinking water supply projects, strengthening/ rehabilitation of 1,614 rural roads and modernisation of three major irrigation projects.  An amount of Rs 599.84 crore has been sanctioned for rehabilitation of 1,614 roads, covering all 33 districts of Rajasthan  Rs 469.54 crore for providing potable water to population of 419 villages of Jalore district.  Rs 280.17 crore for rehabilitation and modernisation of 3 major irrigation projects located in Udaipur, Banswara and Dungarpur districts. Two regional rural banks record over Rs.150-cr profit in FY17  Of the 56 regional rural banks (RRBs) in the country, two notched up net profit of over ₹150 crore each during 2016-17. These are among the 49 RRBs that recorded a profit in 2016-17. Seven RRBs suffered losses during the period.  Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank and Andhra Pragathi Grameena Bank recorded net profit of more than ₹150 crore during 2016-17.  According to the Reserve Bank of India’s ‘Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India’, 45 of the 56 RRBs earned profits without carrying any accumulated losses during 2015-16  The three RRBs promoted by Syndicate Bank — Prathama Bank, Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank, and Andhra Pragathi Grameena Bank — improved their net profit over 2015-16 and emerged in the top league of profit-making RRBs during 2016- 17.  These RRBs covered 18 districts in three States with a network of 1,563 branches.  At the end-March 2017, RRBs had 21,398 branches spread across 676 districts and 28 States. Dhanlaxmi Bank, DHFL Pramerica tie up for bancassurance  DHFL Pramerica Life Insurance Company has signed on Kerala-based Dhanlaxmi Bank as its bancassurance partner, under which the latter will distribute retail and group life insurance products to its customers across 260 branches in India.  The bank anticipates an annual incremental income of ₹20-30 crore from this distribution business. This is significant income since the bank has just come into black, posting a net profit of ₹7.99 crore in the latest quarter.  With this tie-up, the company is in a strong position to consolidate its presence in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. HDFC Bank launches all-in-one DigiPoS machines  HDFC Bank, the largest merchant payment acquirer with over 40 per cent market share, launched an all-in-one offering, DigiPoS Machine, that offers a complete suite of digital payment solutions  With DigiPoS, a merchant can use as many as 12 various digital payment options like UPI, Bharat QR, SMS Pay, PayZapp, Tap & Pay, EMIs in addition to pay through debit/ credit card swiping.  A merchant has to do is to update his/her machine with a software at no cost, but added that the new software will work only on HDFC Bank-issued PoS machines, but will accept any card or app from any bank/service provider  DigiPoS integrates all popular digital payment methods in merchant payment machines offering greater convenience to both customers and merchants  For example, using the Bharat QR or UPI option, a customer can scan the QR code and make payment using their smartphones, ading similarly, SMS Pay option on the DigiPOS can be initiated by merchants in the home delivery business to facilitate payments through SMS to customers.

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 Over the next couple of months, they will convert their entire network of over 4.5 lakh PoS machines to DigiPOS without any investment by the merchants. Rao said the bank enjoys around 40 per cent market share in the 1.3 million PoS machines segment with 4.5 lakh machines with 3 lakh merchants Banks to pay 3% IGST on gold imports  Banks importing gold and precious metals will have to pay 3% tax under the GST which can be claimed as input tax credit, the government has said.  Clarifying issues on GST on gems and jewellery through Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), the Central Board of Excise and Customs said banks did not pay any VAT on import of precious metals previously.  They only paid customs duty. However, under GST, “3% Integrated-GST is payable on all imports of precious metals in addition to the basic customs duty. IGST paid can be taken as input tax credit by the banks.”  It also said banks would be liable to pay IGST on such imports and not any overseas supplier in which ownership is vested during movement of gold or silver  Ownership is not material for determining whether an import has taken place. Banks, being registered entities, would be liable to pay IGST on such imports but not the overseas entities since they are not effecting the import,” the FAQ said.  Import of gold attracts a 10% basic customs duty. On top of that a 12.5% countervailing duty (CVD) was levied prior to GST  Since GST subsumed CVD, hence the GST rate on gold at 3% has to be paid at the time of imports in the form of IGST with effect from 1 July  The CBEC also clarified on levy of GST where the total value of a gold ornament is Rs30,000, including Rs2,000 as making charge saying, “GST is payable at the rate of 3% of the total transaction value of jewellery, whether the making charge is shown separately or not”. Chairman CBEC : Vanaja N. Sarna Govt. notifies changes in Banking Regulation Act  The government has notified the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act under which it can authorise the RBI to issue directions to banks to initiate insolvency resolution process to recover bad loans.  The banking sector is saddled with non-performing assets (NPAs) of over Rs 8 lakh crore, of which Rs 6 lakh crore is with public sector banks (PSBs).  The government in May had promulgated an ordinance authorising the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to issue directions to banks to initiate insolvency resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.  Following the ordinance, the RBI had identified 12 accounts each having more than Rs. 5,000 crore of outstanding loans and accounting for 25 per cent of total NPAs of banks for immediate referral for resolution under the bankruptcy law.  The loan defaulters identified by the RBI include, Essar Steel, Bhushan Steel, ABG Shipyard, Electrosteel and Alok Industries.  Under the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2017, the RBI can issue directions to banks for resolution of stressed assets.  The RBI can specify authorities or committees to advise banks on resolution of stressed assets. The members on the committees will be appointed or approved by the RBI.  The bulk of the NPAs are in sectors such as power, steel, road infrastructure and textiles

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IRDAI launches central database of insurance sales persons.  The Insuranace Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has launched a Central Database of all Insurance Sales Persons in the country.  Christined as `Envoy’, the database will esnure that all licensed insurance sales persons working for insurers and intermediaries including entities such as insurance agents, broker qualified persons, specified persons of corporate agents, authorised verifiers of web aggregators, point of sales persons (POS) etc do not work with multiple insurers and intermediaries in the same business category  At the present stage, Envoy covers POS, specified persons of corporate agents, qualified persons of insurance brokers and authorised verifiers of web aggregators.  According to IRDAI, the next phase, to be taken up shortly, will cover all remaining categories such as individual agents and insurance marketing firms.  The database also provides a search facility for insurers and insurance intermediaries whereby an applicant insurance sales person's details are queried for a match in the database.  Appointment of such a person by the insurer or insurance intermediary shall be taken up only after ensuring that the Applicant does not already figure in the database IRDAI Chairman : T.S.Vijayan Canara HSBC Oriental Life Insurance Company (CHOICE) launches ‘PoS-Easy Bima Plan  Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company (CHOICE) has come up with a ‘Point-of-Sale’ product targeted at the mass-market segment.  The product — ‘PoS - Easy Bima Plan’— is the first PoS product for the company and is a pure term insurance plan that not only gives life cover but also returns all premiums paid during the payment term on survival till maturity  We have worked at making the buying process very simple as this just requires a onestep identification of the customer and filling up of a simple proposal form.  The affordable premiums start from ₹1,000 annually and there is inbuilt double life cover in case of accidental death.  While this product has initially been launched through a regional rural bank of Canara Bank, it would be available in the bank branches of Canara Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) in the next two months Ujjivan SFB receives scheduled bank status from RBI.  Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ujjivan Financial Services Ltd, has been included in the second scheduled to the RBI Act 1934.  "This grants the 'Scheduled Bank' status to Ujjivan Small Finance Bank' from the date of notification.  With this Ujjivan Small Finance Bank can issue certificate of deposits.

 Ujjivan SFB commenced its operations as a Small Finance Bank with effect from February 1, 2017. MD & CEO Ujjivan SFB : Samit Ghosh Freyr Energy ties up with Axis Bank  Solar energy services company Freyr Energy has tied up with Axis Bank to offer term loans ranging from ₹5 lakh to ₹50 lakh for tenures up to five years,for solar rooftop installations in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

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 The loans will be given to MSMEs and self-employed individuals to install Freyr rooftop solar plants for industrial and commercial purposes.  The Freyr SunPro app is said to eliminate the complexity involved in system design, pricing and generation.  Over the past three years, Freyr has installed over 800 solar systems across 14 States in India and Ghana. Co founder & MD : Saurabh Marda Co founder : Radhika Choudary, SEBI bans Orion Capital, Orion Broking from markets for 10 yrs  Markets regulator Sebi today barred Orion Capital as well as Orion Broking and their partners from the securities markets for 10 years.  It failed to redress several investor grievances pertaining to non- settlement of funds due to the clients  The nature of investor complaints received against both the firms are predominantly on non- settlement of the funds and securities and balances due to their clients.  The claim amount is more than Rs 6 crore against Orion Capital and over Rs 4 crore against Orion Broking.  Besides, the two entities closed their business without any prior intimation to their affiliated exchanges or to their clients  By indulging in such activities, the two firms and their partners have failed to act in accordance with the requirements of the stock brokers regulations Bank Of India slashes interest  Public lender Bank of India has reduced interest rate on savings bank accounts by 50 basis points to 3.5 per cent on deposits of up to Rs 50 lakh.  However, the bank will continue to pay 4 per cent interest on deposits of above Rs 50 lakh  This is two tier saving bank rate.  On July 31, SBI slashed interest rate on savings account deposits by 50 basis points to 3.5 per cent on balance of Rs 1 crore and below  Other lenders, including private ones such as HDFC Bank and Axis bank, have followed suit.  Earlier this month, Axis Bank had reduced interest rate on savings bank accounts by 50 basis points to 3.5 per cent for deposits up to Rs 50 lakh.  Another PSU lender, Bank of Baroda had slashed the rate to 3.5 per cent on deposits of up to Rs 50 lakh  Karnataka Bank too has tweaked the rate on savings bank accounts. Central Bank of India, Dena Bank cut savings interest rates  In a filing to the BSE, Central Bank of India said that it will now pay 3.50 per cent interest to customers having savings deposits of up to Rs 50 lakh.  While those having balance over Rs 50 lakh will continue to enjoy the 4 per cent interest rate on their savings  Dena Bank in a statement said that it has cut the interest rate on savings account deposits up to Rs 25 lakh by 0.5 percentage point to 3.50 per cent from existing 4%.  For deposits above Rs 25 lakh, the interest rate will remain unchanged at 4 per cent per annum

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Shri. Rajeev Rishi, Chairman & Managing Director of Central Bank of India CEO Dena Bank : Shri. Ashwani Kumar ICICI Bank cut interest rate on savings account by 0.5%  In a notice to the stock exchange the bank said it had cut the interest rate on deposits below Rs. 50 lakh to 3.5%.  The interest rate on savings bank accounts with deposits of Rs 50 lakh and above remains unchanged at 4 per cent.  HDFC Bank Ltd also cut interest rates on most of its savings accounts to 3.5 per cent from 4 per cent  Customers with savings bank account balance of Rs 5 million ($77,924.10) and above will continue to earn interest at 4 per cent per annum. Yes Bank cuts savings account interest rate by up to 1%  Private sector lender Yes Bank reduced the interest rate on savings bank accounts by 1 per cent to 5 per cent for deposits of less than Rs 1 lakh.  However, the bank will continue to pay 6 per cent interest on deposits of over Rs 1 lakh and less than Rs 1 crore  The bank has also slashed interest rate on savings accounts to 6.25 per cent from existing 6.5 per cent for deposits over Rs 1 crore.  Yes Bank is the fifth lender to reduce saving account interest rate after market leader State Bank of India begun the process of reducing the interest rate

PART-4-SEPTEMBER Impact of GST on gold and gold jewellery prices  Banks importing gold and precious metals will have to pay 3% tax under the GST which can be claimed as input tax credit, the government has said.  banks did not pay any VAT on import of precious metals previously.  They only paid customs duty. However, under GST, “3% Integrated-GST is payable on all imports of precious metals in addition to the basic customs duty. IGST paid can be taken as input tax credit by the banks.”  It also said banks would be liable to pay IGST on such imports and not any overseas supplier in which ownership is vested during movement of gold or silver  Ownership is not material for determining whether an import has taken place. Banks, being registered entities, would be liable to pay IGST on such imports but not the overseas entities since they are not effecting the import,”  Import of gold attracts a 10% basic customs duty. On top of that a 12.5% countervailing duty (CVD) was levied prior to GST.  (CVD) - an import tax imposed on certain goods in order to prevent dumping or counter export subsidies.  Since GST subsumed CVD, hence the GST rate on gold at 3% has to be paid at the time of imports in the form of IGST with effect from 1 July.  The CBEC also clarified on levy of GST where the total value of a gold ornament is Rs30,000, including Rs2,000 as making charge saying, “GST is payable at the rate of 3% of the total transaction value of jewellery, whether the making charge is shown separately or not”.

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Chairman CBEC : Vanaja N. Sarna  Prior of GST, jewellers used to pay 10 per cent customs duty on gold and 1 per cent excise plus 1.2 per cent VAT over and above that. All of these taxes when summed up equals to 12.43 per cent when buying jewellery and 11.32 per cent when buying bars as there is no excise duty on bars.  With the implementation of GST at 3 per cent for gold and 18 per cent for making charges, the effective rate comes to 15.67 per cent including 10 per cent customs duty.  When compared, the effective price increase on gold jewellery comes to 3.24 per cent and the gold bars will be dearer by 1.98 per cent. Thus, it is clear that gold is going to get a little expensive for consumers in India  The profit gained from the sale of gold is taxable under the 'Capital Gains' for individuals and in case of gold and jewellery dealers, it is taxable under 'Profits and gains of business or profession'.  The amount of tax liability and exemptions from payment of tax available will depends on how long you hold it. * If you buy gold or gold jewellery and sell within 36 months, it is treated as a short-term capital asset. * In case, you buy gold or gold jewellery and sell after 36 months i.e. three years, it becomes a long- term capital asset.  The short-term capital gains are added to your regular income and are taxed at the slab rate applicable to you whereas long-term capital gains are taxed at 20 per cent and applicable surcharge and education cess.  Gold gifts up to Rs 50,000 in aggregate in a year are fully exempt. In case, you received gold as a gift, would become taxable at the time or receipt in case value of all the gifts received by you during the year exceeds Rs 50,000 in a year.  The capital gain tax liability is triggered only at the time of sale of gold which is received as an inheritance or gift. In 2017, the government shifted the base year for calculation of the indexation benefit from 1981 to 2001.  In case, you don't' make a profit on selling your gold, it is treated as a capital loss and you can mention the same while filing your ITR returns.  The April-September gold import bill is $17 billion, up from $7.9 billion in the same period a year ago. The gold import bill for 2016-17, according to the commerce ministry, was $27.4 billion.  Imports increased at a time when gold demand fell after the GST was rolled out. In August, the government issued a notification bringing the jewellery trade into the ambit of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act,  requiring customers to submit their proof of identity to jewellers, who were required to report all trades above Rs 2 lakh.  Any sale of gold above Rs 50,000 required customers to furnish Know Your Customer (KYC) documents to the jeweller, and file certain returns. It was feared to have an adverse impact on the sale of gold jewellery. The government decided on Friday that a separate notification will now be issued separately after due consideration. In effect, any person buying jewellery above Rs 50,000 will not be required to submit their PAN or Aadhaar details for now.  The decision was taken by the GST council at its 22nd meeting – chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.  After the GST roll out in July, the government had notified in August that the PMLA will be applicable on the jewellery industry. Now, any entity dealing in gems, jewellery or any other

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high-value goods with a turnover of Rs 2 crore or more in a financial year will not be covered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). IRDAI launches central database of insurance sales persons.  The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has launched a Central Database of all Insurance Sales Persons in the country.  Named as `Envoy’, the database will ensure that all licensed insurance sales persons working for insurers and intermediaries including entities such as insurance agents, broker qualified persons, specified persons of corporate agents, authorized verifiers of web aggregators, point of sales persons (POS) etc do not work with multiple insurers and intermediaries in the same business category  The database also provides a search facility for insurers and insurance intermediaries whereby an applicant insurance sales person's details are queried for a match in the database.  Appointment of such a person by the insurer or insurance intermediary shall be taken up only after ensuring that the Applicant does not already figure in the database. IRDAI Chairman : T.S.Vijayan Ujjivan SFB receives scheduled bank status from RBI.  Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ujjivan Financial Services Ltd, has been included in the second schedule to the RBI Act 1934.  "This grants the 'Scheduled Bank' status to Ujjivan Small Finance Bank' from the date of notification.  With this Ujjivan Small Finance Bank can issue Certificate of deposits.  Ujjivan SFB commenced its operations as a Small Finance Bank with effect from February 1, 2017. MD & CEO Ujjivan SFB : Samit Ghosh Certificate of deposits  A certificate of deposit or what is popularly known as CDs is nothing but money market instruments that are issued by banks and select Financial institutions permitted by RBI in lieu of the money that is deposited.  Minimum amount for Certificate of Deposit has been fixed at Rs. 1 Lakh, to be accepted from a single subscriber Larger amounts have to be in the multiples of Rs. 1 Lakh.  Certificates of Deposit are money market instruments and their maturity period is between seven days to one year for commercial banks. For Financial Institutions, the maturity is not less than a year and not more than three years. Certificate of deposits  The CDs are issued at a discount on face value. Return on them is difference between the issue value and face value.  There is no lock-in period for certificates of deposit  Banks/FIs cannot grant loans against CDs.  They cannot buy back their own CDs before maturity.  Scheduled banks have to follow the conditions laid down by RBI and have to maintain certain minimum capital requirements.  Schedule banks are included in the 2nd schedule of RBI act, 1934. All commercial banks like PSU's, private banks, RRB's come under scheduled banks.

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Freyr Energy ties up with Axis Bank  Solar energy services company Freyr Energy has tied up with Axis Bank to offer term loans ranging from ₹5 lakh to ₹50 lakh for tenures up to five years,for solar rooftop installations in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.  The loans will be given to MSMEs and self-employed individuals to install Freyr rooftop solar plants for industrial and commercial purposes. Co founder & MD : Saurabh Marda Co founder : Radhika Choudary, SEBI bans Orion Capital, Orion Broking from markets for 10 yrs  Markets regulator Sebi today barred Orion Capital as well as Orion Broking and their partners from the securities markets for 10 years.  It failed to redress several investor grievances pertaining to non- settlement of funds due to the clients.  The nature of investor complaints received against both the firms are predominantly on non- settlement of the funds and securities and balances due to their clients.  Besides, the two entities closed their business without any prior intimation to their affiliated exchanges or to their clients RBI on demonetisation: 99% banned notes back in banking system  The Reserve Bank of India confirmed that 8.9 crore old Rs 1,000 notes out of 632.6 crore have not been returned post the note ban last November.  This means all but 1.4 per cent of the old Rs 1,000 notes have come back into the banking system.  As per the data released by the RBI, old notes worth Rs 15.44 lakh crore were there in the market, out of which 15.28 lakh crore have been received by the bank.  RBI said there were as many 588.2 crore of Rs 500 notes, both old and new in circulation as of March 31, 2017.  As of March 31, 2016, there were 1,570.7 crore Rs 500 notes in circulation.  The report further said that the cost of printing of currency notes more than doubled to Rs 7,965 crore in 2016-17 from Rs 3,421 crore in the previous year on account of new currency printing

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Advantages of Demonetisation  Demonetisation impact on widening of Tax-base :According to the Income Tax, the number of e- returns of Individual taxpayers filed till 5th August increased to 2.79 crore from 2.22 crore returns filed during the corresponding period of last year, registering an increase of about 57 lakh returns or 25.3 per cent. Total number of all returns (electronic + paper) filed during the entire Financial Year 2016-17 was 5.43 crore which is 17.3 per cent more than the returns filed during FY 2015-16. The Tax department also put out number of new taxpayers and said: "For Financial Year 2016-17, 1.26 crore new taxpayers (return filers + non-filers making tax payments) were added to the tax base." Demonetisation impact on Direct Tax Collections:  The Income Tax Department showed a growth of about 41.79 per cent in the collection of Advance Tax under Personal Income Tax. In a statement it said: "The effect of Demonetization is also clearly visible in the growth in direct tax collections.  Collection of advance tax under personal income tax (i.e. other than Corporate Tax) as on 05.08.2017 showed a growth of about 41.79 per cent over the corresponding period in FY 2016- 2017." It further said that the collection of self assessment tax under personal income tax showed a growth of 34.25 per cent over the corresponding period in FY 2016-2017. 14,000 high-value properties under scanner:  The Income Tax department on Thursday released a statement saying the operation clean money exercise which was started after demonetisation has unearthed large number of persons and clusters having suspect transactions.  "These include about 14,000 properties of more than Rs.1 crore each where persons have not even filed Income Tax Returns. The investigations are in progress," the statement said.  Lakhs of shell firms detected: The Prime Minister while speaking on Foundation Day of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India revealed that after the demonetisation over 37,000 shell firms were detected. He further said that the authorities have cancelled the registrations of more than 1 lakh shell companies. The development came after it was found that these firms were created to evade taxes. The government claimd that the authorities had found over 3 lakh registered companies that were involved in suspected dealings. "The government has cancelled registration of over 1 lakh companies in a single stroke and more than 37,000 shell firms have been identified for strong action," the Prime Minister had said.  Benami properties identified: After the demonetisation, the CBDT claimed to have identified over 300 Benami Properties. These properties were identified during Income Tax's clean money operation. The tax authorities also identified over 1,300 high-risk cases where people's real estate deals and land purchases did not match with their tax profiles. The total value of these property transaction was more than Rs 6,000 crore.  Suspicious transaction: At least 18 lakh people were identified with suspicious transactions after demonetisation. Central Board of Direct Taxes Chairman Sushil Chandra had earlier informed about the suspicious transactions and said that tax department had found over 1 crore accounts where above Rs 2 lakh money was deposited. "We have compared these vast data with the income profile, turnover and the various other particulars of income available in the income tax data bank. In the first phase where the deposits in account are not matching with our data, we are putting the same on our e-filing portal seeking explanation of source of income," he had reportedly said. So, once the probe is over, a large sum of money may turn out to be black money.

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Fincare Small Finance Bank starts operations with 25 branches.  Fincare Small Finance Bank (previously known as Disha Microfin Limited) kick-started its banking operations with about 25 operational branches across Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.  The bank was given final small finance bank (SFB) license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in May this year.  Fincare CEO Rajeev Yadav informed that out of 25 branches , nearly 50% are located in Gujarat.  Out of the 10 institutes who have obtained the in-principle license for small finance banks, eight are microfinance institutes whereas one is a LAB (Capital Local Area Bank) and one (Au Financiers) is an NBFC. While giving licenses to new private sector banks in April 2014, notwithstanding the introduction of small finance banks, RBI has favoured Bandhan, a microfinance company, to become a commercial bank.  All the 10 small finance banks that have got the in-principle licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are now armed with the regulator’s final nod; eight of them are up and running Equitas Small Finance Bank Ltd Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Ltd Ujjivan Small Finance Bank - 100th Bank Branch Mumbai-based Suryoday Small Finance Bank Ltd. Utkarsh Small Finance Bank was launched in Varanasi. Govind Singh, MD and CEO, Utkarsh Small Finance Bank. ESAF Small Finance Bank Ltd, Kerala’s first private bank after Independence AU Small Finance Bank Partnered with Aditya Birla life insurance (Bancassurance agreement)  Janalakshmi Financial Services is a MFI in India and will soon launch its operations as Jana Small Finance Bank Brand ambassador – Nawazuddin Siddiqui Ajay Kanwal, Chief Executive Officer, Janalakshmi Financial Services. North East Small Finance Bank Limited has commenced operations as a small finance bank from RGVN (North East) Microfinance Limited, Guwahati was one of the 10 applicants which was issued in-principle approval for setting up a small finance bank in September 2015. The Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Nidhi Microfinance Limited-- North East Suryoday Small Finance Bank R Baskar Babu, Co-founder, MD and CEO  Punjab-based small finance bank Capital Small Finance Bank Ltd has raised Rs 24.35 crore (about $4 million) from Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) and existing investors in its latest round of fund-raising.  Capital Small Finance Bank was one of the 10 entities to receive Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) in- principle approval to start small finance bank operations in September 2015. It was the first to start small finance bank operations in April 2016.  Larger SFBs such as AU Small Finance Bank Ltd, Equitas Holdings Ltd and Ujjivan Financial Services Ltd have opted for public listing.  75% of small banks’ loans must be disbursed to weaker sections of society and other target segments under the socalled priority sector tag (for universal banks it is 40%) and up to Rs10 lakh of such loans do not need to be backed by any collateral security.

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 Half of their credit portfolio will have to be of ticket size of less than Rs 25 lakh.  AU Small Finance Bank inks MoU with SIDBI to boost MSME financing  By launching a 200 crore corpus joint  The programme will fund term loan proposals worth Rs 25 lakh to Rs 2 crore. The appraisal of the proposal shall be done jointly by AU Bank and SIDBI.  Both the financial institutes would earmark a corpus of Rs 100 crore for lending under this MoU for FY18E. AU Small Finance Bank – 100 Crore SIDBI – 100 Crore Sanjay Agarwal – MD,AU Small Finance Bank SIDBI Chairman – Mohammad Mustafa First project of BRICS development bank starts operation HQ- Shanghai, First regional center – Johanesburg,SA  The first project funded by The New Development Bank, set up by India and other members of the BRICS grouping of emerging economies, has started operation in Shanghai.  The USD 76 million loan with a maturity length of 17 years was granted to Shanghai Lingang Distributed Solar Power Project, under an agreement signed in December 2016.  A distributed solar photo-voltaic power system with a total capacity of 100 megawatts will be built on the rooftops of factories in Lingang Industrial Area  For India, the Bank has approved $470 million loan for Madhya Pradesh’s Multi-Village Rural Drinking Water Supply Scheme Project.  China’s Jiangxi Industrial Low-Carbon Restructuring and Green Development Pilot Project will get a $200 million loan to promote energy conservation, resources recycling and pollutants reduction through technology upgrade.  The NDB will provide a $460 million loan to the Russian Federation for the development of infrastructure and implementation of information technology systems of Russia’s judicial system in Russia. DBS becomes second bank to get in-principle nod to operate as wholly-owned unit  Singapore-based bank DBS has got final approval to operate as a whollyowned subsidiary (WOS) in India  DBS is the second foreign lender after SBM (Mauritius) State Bank of Mauritius to get an in- principle approval to operate as WOS in India.  DBS also has a strong network in the form of Digibank in India with about 1.5 million customers.  Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) launched mobile only bank called “Digibank by DBS” in 2016 China Bans Fundraising Via Cryptocurrencies, Known as ICOs  China banned individuals and organizations from raising funds through initial coin offerings (ICO), or launches of digital currencies, saying the practice constituted illegal fundraising.  ICOs have become a bonanza for digital currency entrepreneurs, globally and in China, allowing them to raise large sums quickly by creating and selling digital "tokens" with little or no regulatory oversight.  Individuals and organizations that have completed ICO fundraisings should make arrangements to return funds, said a joint statement from the People's Bank of China

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RBI includes HDFC Bank in ‘too big to fail’ lenders list  Private sector lender HDFC Bank Ltd has been declared a domestic-systemically important bank (D-SIB).  With this, the bank has joined State Bank of India (SBI) and ICICI Bank Ltd, which have been tagged as D-SIBs, or “too-big-to-fail” for the third consecutive year.  Such classification means the collapse of these lenders could have a cascading impact on the entire financial system and the economy.  Considering their status, D-SIBs are mandated to maintain a progressively higher share of risk- weighted assets as tier-I equity, which is a measure of the bank’s core capital. Riskweighted assets are used to determine the minimum amount of capital that must be held by banks and other institutions to reduce the risk of insolvency. Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) is also known as Capital to Risk (Weighted) Assets Ratio(CRAR), is the ratio of a bank's capital to its risk.  In case of HDFC Bank, the additional capital surcharge will be applicable from 1 April 2018.  The additional capital requirement for D-SIBs have kicked in phase-wise since April 2016 and will be fully effective from April 2019, according to the RBI framework.  RBI declares a list of D-SIBs every year. The first list was released in 2015, in which SBI and ICICI Bank were named systemically important.  Both these lenders have been designated on the basis of a systemic importance score, arrived at after an analysis of the banks’ size as a percentage of annual gross domestic product (GDP).  Banks with assets that exceed 2% of GDP will be considered part of this class of lenders. SBI launches chatbot to help customers in banking services  Artificial intelligence banking platform Payjo said it has launched an artificial intelligence (AI)- powered chat assistant for State Bank of India (SBI) to address customer enquiries.  The chat assistant, known as SBI Intelligent Assistant, or SIA, will help customers with everyday banking tasks just like a bank representative.  SIA has been set up to handle nearly 10,000 enquiries per second .  With SIA, the bank will reduce significant operational expenditure over time. Currently, SIA can address enquiries on banking products and services. It is trained with a large set of knowledge and is adept at answering frequently asked questions as well.  YES Bank launches YES Pay Bot: YES Bank has partnered with Payjo, an AI banking platform to build the first bot for its digital wallet service. It is immediately integrated into the YES Pay wallet service It’s offering wallet services through a chat-based financial assistant in partnership with Payjo on Facebook Messenger. Banks sans Aadhaar enrolment centres face Rs 20k fine from October  The UIDAI has given banks one more month to open Aadhaar enrolment centres in a stipulated 10 per cent of branches and will impose Rs 20,000 as fine per uncovered branch after September 30.  The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), in July, had asked private as well as public banks to open Aadhaar enrolment and updation facility in one out of 10 branches by August- end.  The reprieve of one month has now been granted as many banks sought additional time from the authority for setting up such facility on their premises.  Aadhaar, the 12-digit biometric identity number, is required for opening of bank accounts and financial transaction of Rs 50,000 and above.

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 Existing bank account holders too are required to furnish the Aadhaar number by December 31, 2017  Small bank accounts (maximum deposit size limit of ₹50,000) are exempt from the directive. Banks on their part have tried to make the linking easy — you can do it in person, through SMS or online.  There are 1,20,000 bank branches in the country and with this move, 12,000 Aadhaar enrolment and updation centres will have to be set up in those branches. IIM-Lucknow, Yes Bank tie up for climate awareness  Indian Institute of Management Lucknow (IIM-L) and Yes Bank are signing a charter to help spread ‘Climate Literacy,’ aiming to achieve sustainable development through shared learning.  The bank will support IIM-L in updating its two-year course curriculum.  Yes Bank will arrange for site visits at its CSR project locations, providing students with the opportunity to develop case studies.  PNB, BSNL join hands for mobile wallet Speedpay roll out  Punjab National Bank and state-run firm BSNL teamed up to roll out open mobile wallet Speedpay across 10 states in the country.  PNB's Speedway wallet will operate like any other mobile wallet for paying bills, recharging phone besides its users will be able to deposit and withdraw money from authorised retail outlets.  Also, Speedway users will be able to operate Internet banking services from the application.  Illegal fund mobilisation: PACL, 4 directors fined Rs 2,423 crore.  The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) imposed a fine of Rs 2,423 crore on PACL Ltd and its four directors for illegal fund mobilisation through various schemes that were used by the group to raise Rs 49,100 crore from the public.  The fine imposed by Sebi is one of the highest ever on any entity and individuals.  Violation of norms under Prevention of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices Regulations.  Sebi has directed PACL and its four directors — Tarlochan Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Subrata Bhattacharya — to jointly and severally deposit the penalty amount within 45 days PACL – Based in Jaipur, Real estate company Exide Life, PMC Bank tie up.  Exide Life Insurance has announced a partnership with Punjab & Maharashtra Co-operative Bank (PMC Bank) to offer its protection and savings products to the latter’s customers.  PMC Bank is a multi-State scheduled urban co-operative bank with 127 branches spread across Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.  Exide Life Insurance works with around 50 banks.  In 2016-17, it posted a profit of ₹112 crore on a premium income of ₹2,400 crore. Rs8,500-crore SBI Life Insurance IPO receives Sebi approval  SBI Life Insurance Co. Ltd, a joint venture between State Bank of India and BNP Paribas Cardif, has received the market regulator’s approval for an initial public offering (IPO) to raise around Rs8,500 crore.  SBI Life filed its share sale prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in July.

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 According to the document, SBI and BNP Paribas will sell 80 million and 40 million shares respectively, amounting to a combined 12% stake. ICICI Lombard gets SEBI approval for Rs 6,000 crore IPO  ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company has got capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)’s go-ahead for its estimated Rs. 6,000 crore initial public offer, which could be the first by a general insurer in the country.  ICICI Lombard is a joint venture between ICICI Bank and Canada-based Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Key Points of Difference Between Life and General Insurance  Duration: This is the first and one of the most significant differences. A life insurance plan is a longterm investment. In contrast, a general insurance plan is often a one-year contract. But there are exceptions. You can have short-term life insurance plans. Meanwhile, some general insurance plans, such as health plans, have longer durations.  Premiums: A life insurance premium is usually paid over many years. Some people pay the insurance premium in one go. But that is not common practice. Most general insurance plans require you to pay the premium in one go.  Savings: Many life insurance plans also combine an element of savings. Say, you outlive the policy period. You then receive a maturity benefit. This is essentially the premium that you paid over the years. General insurance has no savings component. Even if you do not make a claim, you cannot get any part of your premium back.  Purpose: The purpose of life insurance is to give a payout at the death of the policyholder. But you can also get a payout at maturity. Some plans also give payouts at regular intervals, irrespective of any emergency. The purpose of general insurance is more direct. A payout takes place only at the time of a crisis, like an accident or a theft. IRDAI allows OTP for opening online insurance account  Regulator IRDAI has permitted usage of OTP or one time password for opening e-insurance account (eIA) as an alternative to electronic signature.  As part of its ongoing effort to improve insurance penetration, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has also permitted e-KYC facility offered by UIDAI which provides the unique Aadhaar numbers.  As per current practice, an e-signature of the e- insurance account (eIA) holder on the application form for opening the account is considered as a valid authentication.  Insurers can perform the verification of the client through e-KYC authentication facility provided by UIDAI.  UIDAI provides biometric authentication of a person based on Aadhaar.  The insurance regulator further said that e-PAN facility offered by National Securities Depository Limited NSDL for compliance to the Know Your Customer (KYC) / AntiMoney Laundering (AML) has been done away with. IDBI Bank has decided to sell its entire stake in NSDL  Capital-starved IDBI Bank is selling its entire 30 per cent stake in National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) as part of its plans to monetise non-core investments to raise resources.  NSDL, the first and largest depository in India, was established in August 1996  It handles most of the securities held and settled in dematerialized form in the Indian capital market.

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Bharat Financial Inclusion - IndusInd Bank merger  Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd, India’s first listed micro lender, has MERGED WITH IndusInd Bank  the Rs15,486 crore all-stock deal, for every 1,000 BFIL shares held, an investor in IndusInd will get 639 shares of the bank. IndusInd Bank’s MD and CEO Romesh Sobti Bharat Financial Inclusion’s MD and CEO M.R. Rao Banks need $65 billion more capital to meet Basel-III norms: Fitch  Fitch Ratings said capital needs of Indian banks have fallen from its previous estimate of $90 billion to $65 billion, largely as a result of asset rationalisation and weaker-than-expected loan growth.  According to the credit rating agency's latest estimates, Indian banks are likely to require around $65 billion of additional capital to meet new Basel III capital standards that will be fully implemented by the financial year ending March 2019.  State-run banks account for 95 per cent of the estimated shortage, have limited options to raise the capital they still require. Paytm Payments Bank partners with NPCI for RuPay digital card  Paytm Payments Bank (PPB) has partnered with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch a RuPay-powered digital debit card.  With the PPB Digital debit card, customers will now be able to transact at all merchants who accept credit and debit cards.  The RuPay-powered digital debit card will be issued to all customers who have opened their bank accounts with PPB.  Existing Paytm users need to complete a KYC process to become an account holder with PPB. Following this, they will be issued a free digital RuPay card  This debit card will come with a free insurance cover of up to Rs 2 lakh in the case of death or permanent total disability.  Major online platforms like Ola, Flipkart and Amazon do not allow users to pay for transactions using Paytm wallets currently.  With these digital debit cards, they will now be able to make transactions on these platforms as well.  As a payments bank, PPB can take a demand deposit of up to Rs 1 lakh per customer, but it cannot undertake lending activities World Bank assigns $8 billion for Silk Road projects  Billions of dollars have been allocated by the World Bank for infrastructure projects in the Chinese Silk Road Economic Belt, according to the bank’s president Jim Yong Kim at the 1+6 roundtable meeting in Beijing.  According to the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), an extra $1 billion is expected to be raised within a year as part of a planned $5 billion infrastructure investment fund for China’s Road and Belt program.  The fundraising plans are part of IFC’s so-called Managed Co-Lending Portfolio Program (MCPP) that seeks to raise more than $5 billion from investors by 2021  A large part of the funds will be deployed for Belt and Road related projects

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HSBC in tie-up with Sa-Dhan to develop digital ecosystem for India's unbanked segment  Sa-Dhan, an association of microfinance institutions (MFIs) HSBC has entered into an agreement with microfinance industry association Sa-Dhan to develop digital ecosystem for India's unbanked segment  The bank will provide technology expertise to train and educate microfinance consumers at grassroots level and introduce digital banking to promote easier and time-efficient financial transaction among the so-called bottom-of-the-pyramid customer.  It has been observed that for rural MFI clients, the nearest bank branch is on an average at a distance of about 7 km.  HSBC will run a pilot in West Bengal, Punjab, Karnataka & Maharashtra, benefiting 1200 consumers. The pilot run will involve creating digital hubs with POS machines and internet connectivity. RBI classify P2P platform as NBFC business  Peer-to-peer lending (P2P) platforms will be treated as non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and thus regulated by the RBI.  P2P lending is a form of crowd-funding used to raise loans which are paid back with interest.  It can be defined as the use of an online platform that matches lenders with borrowers in order to provide unsecured loans.  The borrower can either be an individual or a legal person requiring a loan. The interest rate may be set by the platform or mutual agreement between the borrower and the lender  Fees are paid to the platform by both the lender as well as the borrower.  Borrowers pay an origination fee — either a flat rate fee or as a percentage of the loan amount raised — according to their risk category. SBI Card to offer pre-approved cards to SBI customers  When you receive a “pre-approved” or “pre-screened” credit card offer, it typically means the credit card issuer has checked your credit, you meet certain criteria, and will be approved for the credit card if you continue to meet the issuer's creditstandards and have sufficient income when you apply.  SBI Card, the second largest credit card selling company after HDFC Bank, is all set to offer pre- approved cards to customers of its parent State Bank of India.  It has entered into a tripartite agreement with SBI and India’s first credit bureau TransUnion Cibil to this end.  The agreement will allow the credit bureau to check the credentials of SBI customers and SBI Card to leverage the data.  SBI Card is looking to tap SBI’s customers aggressively with an aim to double its base to one crore in the next couple of years.  SBI Card is a joint venture between the SBI and GE Capital which is set to exit as part of the American giant's global business revamp  SBI Card has co-branded cards with seven banks including Oriental Bank of Commerce, Bank of Maharashtra and private sector South Indian Bank.  It also has co-branded cards with India’s railway ticketing portal IRCTC. NABARD buys 7% more in SIDBI from IDBI Bank for Rs 900 crore  The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development’s (NABARD) largest ever investment raises its shareholding in Sidbi to 10%

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Chairman – Harsh Kumar Bhanwala  Sidbi, set up in 1990 under an Act of Indian Parliament, is the principal financial Institution for the promotion, financing and development of the micro, small and medium enterprise sector NABARD LOANS  National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned a loan of about Rs 119 crore to construct seven bridges and improvement of one rural road project in five districts of Haryana.  The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned an amount Rs. 273.06 crore to the Andhra Pradesh Government under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) for Rural Water supply, Road and Bridge projects. SBI launches Indian bond index series in London  State Bank of India (SBI) launched India’s first bond index series for overseas investors at the London Stock Exchange (LSE).  The FTSE SBI Bond Index Series, launched by India’s largest commercial bank along with global index and data provider FTSE Russell, is positioned as a first-of-its-kind transparent benchmark for investors in international markets to analyse India’s government bond market.  The Indian bond market is worth around $1.7 trillion. Online general insurer Acko General Insurance gets IRDAI nod  Indian insurance sector regulator IRDAI has given the final nod to online non-life insurer Acko General Insurance Ltd.  Acko General will start its operations by December 2017.  The company had filed the application for the license with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) to set up a general insurance company in November 2016.  Masala bonds to be treated as ECBs  The Reserve Bank relaxed norms for issuance of rupee-denominated overseas bonds, popularly known as masala bonds, saying they will be treated as external commercial borrowings from October 3, thereby freeing up more investments by FPIs.  Currently, the limit for investment by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in corporate bonds is Rs. 2,44,323 crore.  This covers issuance of masala bonds by resident entities of Rs. 44,001 crore, including the ones in pipeline.  After a review, the RBI said that from October 3, masala bonds will no longer form part of the limit for FPI investments in corporate bonds.  “They will form part of the ECBs and will be monitored accordingly. Interest Subsidy Scheme on home loans for MIG extended to March 2019  The central government has extended the validity of interest subsidy benefit of about Rs.2.60 lakh on home loans under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) for beneficiaries belonging to Middle Income Groups (MIG) by 15 more months beyond earlier stipulated one year period ending December this year.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his new-year eve speech last year had announced the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) under PMAY(Urban) to MIG, till the end of December this year.  Under CLSS, MIG beneficiaries with annual income of above Rs 6 lakhs and up to Rs 12 lakhs would get an interest subsidy of 4%

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 Those with annual income exceeding Rs 12.00 lakhs and up to Rs 18 lakhs would get interest subsidy of 3% SBI revises service charges on maintaining monthly average balance  The country’s largest lender State Bank of India has brought down service charges on not maintaining monthly average balance (MAB) by a whopping 20-50%.  The bank has also decided to treat the metro and urban centres in the same category and the requirement of MAB in metro centres stands reduced to Rs 3000 from Rs 5000 earlier.  The above revision is likely to benefit another 5 crore account holders.  The charges at semi-urban and rural centres range from Rs 20 to Rs 40 and at urban and metro centres from Rs 30 to Rs 50.  The revised MAB requirement and charges will become applicable from the month of October 2017. RBI caps bank investments in private equity funds at 10%  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has capped bank investments in private equity funds at 10% while completely prohibiting investments into hedge funds.  This essentially means that banking subsidiaries making investments in private equity above 10% of the capital will need to seek approval from the banking regulator IDBI Bank launches Project Nishchay to improve financial performance  IDBI Bank has launched ‘Project Nishchay’ in partnership with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to accelerate its turnaround programme and improve financial performance.  IDBI Bank has the highest ratio of bad loans among listed banks with a gross NPA ratio of over 24 percent.  The bank had posted a net loss of Rs 853 crore at the end of the first quarter ending June this year. In the same quarter a year ago, IDBI Bank had made a profit of Rs 241 crore.  IDBI Bank sells 9% stake in SIDBI  State-owned lender IDBI Bank sold a 9.03% stake in the Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) for an undisclosed amount.  IDBI Bank sold approximately 48 million shares of Sidbi, bringing down its shareholding to 3.68% from 12.71%.  Earlier, IDBI Bank sold a 1% stake in Sidbi, also for an undisclosed amount. Sebi bans Jeevan Suraksha Energy and Industries from markets  Regulator Sebi barred Jeevan Suraksha Energy and Industries Ltd (JSEIL) from the capital markets for not complying with public issue norms.  The move comes after Sebi received a complaint against the company with regard to alleged fund mobilisation by way of issuance of Redeemable Preference Shares (RPS) and inability to recover investments and promised returns.  A probe conducted by Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) found that the company allotted redeemable preference shares worth about Rs25.82 lakh to 125 persons during 2012- 13.  Besides, they have been prohibited from disposing of their assets as well as diverting any funds raised from public through the allotment of preference shares.

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Small savings interest rate unchanged for for October-December  Head of monetary policy review, the government kept unchanged the interest rates on small savings schemes like PPF (public provident fund), Kisan Vikas Patra and Sukanya Samriddhi for October-December quarter.  Investments in the PPF scheme will fetch annual rate of 7.8% while Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) investments will yield 7.5% and mature in 115 months.  The one for girl child savings, Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme, will offer 8.3% annually.  Similarly, the investment on 5-year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme will yield 8.3%. The interest rate on the senior citizens scheme is paid quarterly. Sebi allows FPIs to buy corp debt up to Rs 9,500 cr in infrastructure sector.  The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) allowed sovereign wealth funds and other long term foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to buy up to Rs 9,500 crore worth corporate debt in infrastructure sector.  This comes after the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) decision to exclude foreign investment in rupee denominated bonds, popularly known as masala bonds, from the combined corporate debt Limit (CCDL).  This sub-limit for Long Term FPIs shall be INR 9,500 cr with effect from October 03, 2017 and shall be enhanced to Rs 19,000 cr on January 01, 2018. IREDA raises $300 million Green Masala Bonds on LSE  The state-owned Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (Ireda) became the first Indian financial institution to raise what are termed ‘green masala bonds’. Masala’ bonds are issued abroad but denominated in rupees. ‘Green’ bonds are meant for financing projects seen as beneficial for the environment, such as Ireda’s for renewable energy. Ireda’s $300-million issue, on the London Stock Exchange, combined these and were subscribed 1.7 times. Govt. notifies changes in Banking Regulation Act  The government has notified the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act under which it can authorize the RBI to issue directions to banks to initiate insolvency resolution process to recover bad loans.  The government in May had promulgated an ordinance authorizing the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to issue directions to banks to initiate insolvency resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.  Following the ordinance, the RBI had identified 12 accounts each having more than Rs. 5,000 crore of outstanding loans and accounting for 25 per cent of total NPAs of banks for immediate referral for resolution under the bankruptcy law.  The bulk of the NPAs are in sectors such as power, steel, road infrastructure and textiles OCTOBER ADB, India Sign $65.5 Million Loan to Support Coastal Protection in Karnataka  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India have signed a $65.5 million loan agreement at Bengaluru to continue interventions to check coastal erosion on the western coast in Karnataka.  The loan is the second tranche of a $250 million financing facility under the Sustainable Coastal Protection and Management Investment Program. The financing will be used to address

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immediate coastal protection needs and strengthen Karnataka’s Public Works, Ports, and Inland Water Transport Department.  The Government of India and World Bank sign $200 Million Loan Agreement for the Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project.  The Government of India and the World Bank today signed a $200 million Loan Agreement for the Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project.  The Project will support the Government of Assam to facilitate agribusiness investments, increase agriculture productivity and market access, and enable small farm holders produce crops that are resilient to recurrent floods or droughts in the state SBI extends Rs. 2,317 crore for rooftop solar projects  State Bank of India (SBI) has sanctioned loans worth Rs. 2,317 crore to rooftop solar power projects for an aggregate capacity of 575 MW to a host of corporate entities including the Adani Group, JSW Energy, Tata Renewable Energy among others.  This follows a line of credit of $625 million availed by the lender from the World Bank for on- lending to viable grid Connected Rooftop Solar projects Govt sets up Arun Jaitley-panel to oversee PSU bank mergers  Members of the panel on PSU bank consolidation include railway and coal minister Piyush Goyal, and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman  “Govt walks the talk on banking reforms; constitutes Alternative Mechanism for PSBs consolidation; Finance Minister to head,”  The consolidation of struggling state-run banks, which have a market share of about 70% and account for over 80% of bad loans in the Indian banking system, is aimed at building scale and bolstering their risk-taking ability.  The idea of bank mergers has been around since at least 1991, when former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor M. Narasimham recommended the government merge banks into a three- tiered structure, with three large banks with an international presence at the top.  In 2014, the P. J. Nayak panel suggested that the government either merge or privatize state- owned banks.  The State Bank of India merged operations of five of its associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank with itself earlier this year, marking the first consolidation move in the sector following the bad loan crisis.  The merger has reduced the number of state-controlled banks to 21 from 26. Mandatory use of PFMS to help monitor fund flow to schemes: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley  With the capability of providing real time information, the Webbased software app PFMS has tremendous potential to improve programme/financial management, reduce the float in the financial systems by enabling "just in time" releases and also the government borrowings with direct impact on interest cost  "PFMS...would help in tracking and monitoring the flow of funds to the implementing agencies Transcorp launches pre-paid card in association with Yes Bank  Forex and inward solutions provider Transcorp International today launched a platinum pre-paid card in association with Yes Bank that can be used for transactions in stores and ATMs across the country.  The card is being launched in association with RUPAY India’s very own switch powered by NPCI

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Star Health launches insurance plans for cancer patients  Star Health and Allied Insurance (SHAI) has introduced what it calls an industry-first health insurance cover for people already diagnosed with cancer.  The new health insurance scheme, Star Cancer Care Gold, comes in two sum-insured options — ₹3 lakh and ₹5 lakh. Persons in the age group five months to 65 years, who have already been diagnosed with cancer (stage 1 and 2), can take this insurance. “This is the first-ever insurance cover for cancer-affected people. SEBI revises block deal norms, minimum order size hiked to Rs10 crore  SEBI sets up two separate trading windows of 15 minutes each for block deals, increases the minimum order size to Rs10 crore BLOCK DEAL – 5 lakh shares or 5 crore deal in single transaction The transaction price of a share should be within plus or minus 1% of the previous day’s closing. As per the current framework, block deals are allowed during a 35- minute window—between 9.15am and 9.50am.  Under the new rules, SEBI would provide two block deal windows—morning and afternoon—of 15 minutes duration each. Besides, the regulator has increased the minimum order size for execution of trades in the block deal window to Rs10 crore. Presently, block deal for shares worth Rs 5 crore through a single transaction is allowed SBI Slashed IMPS Service Charges up to 80%  The State Bank of India has slashed Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) charges up to 80 percent.  If the users are doing an online transaction of money after selecting IMPS option, then they will have to pay 80% less charge than what they used to pay earlier.  After the revision, no IMPS service charge will be imposed on online transactions under Rs 1000. Rs 1000 and below Free Rs 1001 to Rs 10,000 Rs 1 Rs 10,001 to Rs 1 lakh Rs 2 Rs 100,001 to Rs 2 lakh Rs 3  Earlier in June, for transactions below Rs 1 lakh, SBI charged Rs 5 plus service tax. Transfers above Rs 1 lakh and up to Rs 2 lakh were charged Rs 15 plus service tax. For transactions above Rs 2 lakh and up to Rs 5 lakh, the bank charged Rs 25 plus service tax.  ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank have similar charges for IMPS as the above. IMPS saw a 33% increase in the total transactions taking place between August and September 2017.  There was a slight increase in the total number of Mobile Money IDs (MMID), according to data published by the National Payments Corporation of India, which owns and operates IMPS. IMmediate Payment System (IMPS) by National Payment Coorporation of India (NPCI)  IMPS is real-time remittance service available anytime, anywhere across India. Using IMPS customers can transfer money real-time to any person or to a merchant, for any personal or commercial purpose.  IMPS is available round-the-clock and operates even during bank holiday, weekends or festive holidays.  IMPS can be used on any platform - Mobile, Internet and ATM across any bank in India. For any transfer, IMPS is the answer. Benefits :- Instant domestic fund transfer Available 365 X 24 X 7 (yes! we work on holidays too)

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Safe and secure Easily accessible Cost effective Available on Mobile, Internet and ATM Multiple transfer input options to choose from, for initiating transactions, such as IFSC / MMID/ Account no./AADHAAR no. Multiple access mechanism to choose from.  You can use IMPS to transfer funds to your loved ones, pay merchants after shopping, pay bills and fees and pay for many more services listed below :- 1. Fund Transfer Services 2. Instant Account to Account Fund Transfer/Remittance 3. Instant Account to Wallet and Vice versa 4. Merchant Payments 5. Mobile top-up / DTH top-up 6. Schools & Colleges Fee payments 7. Utility Bill payments 8. Online shopping 9. Grocery Bills Payment 10. Insurance premium payment 11. Over-the-counter payments 12. Fees payments to schools / colleges / universities 13. Travel & Ticketing 14. Credit Card Bill Payment 15. Donation to religious institutes RBI imposes Rs2 crore penalty on IDFC Bank, Rs 6 crore on Yes Bank  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) slapped a Rs6 crore penalty on Yes Bank Ltd for breaching its rules on classifying non-performing assets and failing to report a security incident involving its ATMs on time  The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 2 crore on IDFC Bank pertaining to breaching regulations on giving loans and advances.  In a notification, RBI said Yes Bank violated the Income Recognition Asset Classification (IRAC) norms on dealing with assessment of bad loans as of March-end 2016.  Yes Bank was one of three private sector lenders which had reported a sharp divergence between their asset quality classification and provisioning for 2015-16, and what the RBI deemed necessary.  In its annual report for 2016-17, the bank said its bad loan classification of Rs748.9 crore at the end of March 2016 varied from that of RBI to the tune of Rs4,176 crore.  RBI’s bad loan assessment was 558% more than what Yes Bank had reported.  RBI also said Yes Bank failed to report a cyber-security attack on its ATM network within the prescribed timeframe.

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 Card data of 3.2 million users was stolen between 25 May and 10 July 2016 from a network of Yes Bank ATMs managed by Hitachi Payment Services Pvt. Ltd, but it was only in September that year that banks and payments services providers became aware of the extent of the breach.  In the case of IDFC Bank, RBI said the bank failed to comply with the regulations pertainting to sanction/renewal of loans and advances. RBI to Make LEI Must for Companies with Over Rs 5 Crore Exposure  After making Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) mandatory for transactions in interest rate, forex and credit derivative market, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is set to make LEI compulsory for companies having aggregate fundbased and non-fund based exposure over Rs 5 crore.  Banks will be required to capture this number in the Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC) database that captures details of loan above Rs 5 crore.  The LEI number will help banks in monitoring the aggregate exposure of corporate borrowers.  It would also enable banks in preventing multiple loans to companies against the same collateral.  Firms can obtain their LEI code from Legal Entity Identifier India Ltd.(LEIL), which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Clearing Corporation India Ltd.  LEIL is recognised by RBI as issuer of LEI under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.  Apart from the LEIL, any local operating unit accredited by GLEIF can issue LEI numbers.  In June, the central bank has made mandatory all participants in the Over-theCounter (OTC) markets for Rupee Interest Rate derivatives, foreign currency derivatives and credit derivatives in India, to obtain LEI in a phased manner starting from August 1 till March 31, 2018 What is an LEI?  The LEI is a global reference number that uniquely identifies every legal entity or structure that is party to a financial transaction, in any jurisdiction.  It is a unique 20 digit alphanumeric code that is assigned to a legal entity.  Rajnish Kumar, the NEW chairman of State Bank of India  NPAs and improving profitability = his top priorities.  three-year appointment  25th chairman of the nation’s largest lender.  In the three months April to June 2017, SBI’s gross NPAs rose to 9.97 per cent from 7.40 per cent and net NPAs jumped to 5.97 per cent from 4.36 per cent. Retail NPAs grew 1.56 per cent to Rs 7,632 crore, while bad loans in the agri book grew 9.51 per cent to Rs 17,988 crore Cabinet Approves Rs 2.11 lakh Crore PSBs' Capitalisation Plan  The Indian government has announced an allocation of Rs 2.11 lakh crore over 2 years for the recapitalization of public sector banks in a bid to clean banks' books and revive investment in a slowing economy.  As part of the plan, the government will essentially issue bonds to banks worth Rs 1.35 lakh crore while Rs 76,000 crore will come through budgetary support.  Lenders will subscribe to these bonds as part of their investment portfolio. The money raised by the government will then be used to recapitalize banks.  The finance minister said banks would get Rs 18,000 crore under the Indradhanush plan.  Mission Indradhanush is a 7-pronged plan to address the challenges faced by public sector banks (PSBs).

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 Many of the measures taken were suggested by P J Nayak committee on Banking sector reforms as indicated.  The 7 parts include appointments, Banks board bureau, capitalisation, de-stressing, empowerment, framework of accountability and governance reforms (ABCDEFG) The 7 parts include Appointments Banks board bureau capitalisation de-stressing Empowerment framework of accountability governance reforms (ABCDEFG)  Under the Indradhanush Plan, the Government of India proposes to make available Rs.70,000 crores out of budgetary allocations for four years as per the figures given below: Financial Year 2015 -16 : Rs. 25,000 crore Financial Year 2016-17: Rs. 25,000 crore Financial Year 2017-18: Rs. 10,000 crore Financial Year 2018-19: Rs. 10,000 crore EEPC India Signs Pact with Punjab National Bank  The Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) of India, The premier body for merchant and SME exporters, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Punjab National Bank (PNB) to provide easy access to export finance to the exporting community.  PNB will provide finance with assurance that loans up to Rs. 10 crore would be provided within six to seven weeks at competitive rates.  As per the agreement, PNB would also extend EEPC foreign currency loan facilities and provide advisory support to financing projects through its 200-odd authorized foreign exchange branches.  Besides, the exporters would be provided with gold cards under which additional benefits like quicker disbursal IndusInd Bank Launches m-wallet with MobiKwik  IndusInd Bank, in association with MobiKwik had announced the launch of a cobranded wallet ‘IndusInd MobiKwik’ that allows its customers to pay at the MobiKwik merchant network using their accounts, with a ’Direct Debit Feature’.  The direct debit feature will allow IndusInd Bank account holders to link their accounts just once and pay using the co-branded app as and when required, thereby eliminating the need to load the MobiKwik prepaid wallet separately.  MobiKwik app is a leading mobile payment platform with a network of over 20,00,000 direct merchants and over 65 million users. Bipin Preet Singh is the CEO of MobiKwik. SBI Launched ‘2nd SBI Digital Hackathon’  The State Bank of India has launched the second edition of its Hackathon named 'Digitize For Bank.'

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 This hackathon will be held from 1st to 12th November 2017.  It is presented by SBI Collaborative Innovation Centre (CIC).  This edition focuses on four ‘Cognitive’ themes namely Facial Recognition Signature Recognition Voice based Authentication Cheque Truncation Value Enhancer IPPB Appoints Suresh Sethi as its MD & CEO  India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has appointed Mr. Suresh Sethi as its Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer.  Mr Sethi was the former MD of Vodafone M-Pesa Ltd  Mr. Sethi takes over from Mr. A.P. Singh who had been the interim MD & CEO of IPPB since January 2017  IPPB was launched on January 30th 2017 in Ranchi and Raipur with the objective of being present in all corners of India by the end of the year.  Tagline of IPPB : Aapka bank, aapke dwaar IPPB is Headquartered in New Delhi. PMLA: Banks to now Match Original IDs with Photocopies  The Government has made it mandatory for banks and financial institutions to check the original identification documents of individuals dealing in cash above the prescribed threshold, to weed out the use of forged or fake copies.  The Department of Revenue in the Finance Ministry has issued a gazette notification making an amendment to the Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules.  The new rule now requires the reporting entity to compare "the copy of officially valid (identification) document so produced by the client with the original and recording the same on the copy".  The Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) forms the core of the legal framework put in place by India to combat money laundering and generation of black money.  The PMLA and its rules impose the obligation on reporting entities like banks, financial institutions and intermediaries to verify the identity of clients, maintain records and furnish information to Financial Intelligence Unit of India (FIU-IND)  As per Rule 9, every reporting entity shall at the time of commencement of an accountbased relationship, identify its clients, verify their identity and obtain information on the purpose and intended nature of the business relationship.  Intermediaries like stock broker, chit fund company, cooperative bank, housing finance institution and non-banking finance companies are also classified as reporting entities  Biometric identification number Aadhaar and other official documents are required to be obtained by the reporting entities from anyone opening a bank account as well as for any financial transaction of Rs 50,000 and above.  The same is also required for all cash dealing of more than Rs 10 lakh or its equivalent in foreign currency, cash transactions where forged or counterfeit currency notes have been used and all suspicious transactions.

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 All cross border wire transfers of more than Rs 5 lakh in foreign currency and purchase and sale of immovable property valued at Rs 50 lakh or more also fall under this category, according to the reporting rules. Banks to Provide Funds at 7% to Women SHGs under DAY-NRLM: RBI  The RBI has issued guidelines to banks will provide funds to women self help groups, SHGs, in rural areas at 7 per cent under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) in the current fiscal (2017-18).  The central bank has revised guidelines on interest subvention scheme under DAYNRLM, as received from the Ministry of Rural Development for implementation by 21 public sector banks and 19 private banks.  "All women SHGs will be eligible for interest subvention on credit upto Rs 3 lakh at 7 per cent per annum.  interest subvention scheme on credit to women SHG during 2017-18 is applicable in 250 districts across the country.  Aajeevika - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) was launched by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India in June 2011.  NRLM set out with an agenda to cover 7 Crore rural poor households, across 600 districts, 6000 blocks, 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats and 6 lakh villages in the country through self-managed Self Help Groups (SHGs) and federated institutions and support them for livelihoods collectives in a period of 8-10 years.  In November 2015, the program was renamed Deendayal Antayodaya Yojana (DAYNRLM).  Yes Bank Commits Rs 156 cr for Namami Gange Project  Private sector Yes Bank has committed Rs 156 crore to fund first Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) to be constructed at Varanasi under Hybrid Annuity-PPP Model.  The bank has signed a deal with Essel Infraprojects for the financial closure of Rs 156 crore that will fund the STP under Namami Gange Project. Yes Bank Partners with Abu Dhabi Global Markets for Collaboration on Fintech  Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the International Financial Centre in Abu Dhabi, and Yes Bank have signed a memorandum of understanding to further foster cross-border exchange between the fintech ecosystems of the United Arab Emirates and India.  The collaboration will enable fintech innovators from the Middle East region and India to apply into Yes FinTech programmes and the ADGM’s Regulatory Laboratory and will get the opportunity to expand into each other’s markets.  Yes Bank which is India's fifth largest private sector bank has an in-house fintech accelerator (Yes FinTech), which is a platform for Yes Bank and fintech startups to cocreate innovative solutions and partner in taking the solution to the bank’s customers Union Bank launches bilingual Android App  Union Bank of India has launched an Android app, Union Sahyog, as part of its drive to digitise customer-facing banking services.  The Union Sahyog app is bilingual — offering both English and Hindi language — and packs in all mobile-based banking applications, missed call/SMS-based services, Internet banking login and self-user creation, deposit and loan product information, online account opening, online loan application, online complaints and even RTI.  It also offers extras such as branch locator, EMI calculator, social media links and digital banking information.

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 Union Sahyog is currently available for download on the Google Play Store. An iOS version is in the works Odisha Government Department Signs MOU with SBI  The Odisha government's Directorate of Treasuries and Inspection and the State Bank of India have signed an MOU for integration of SBI e-Pay with the cyber treasury.  The MoU is a landmark initiative by the state government to facilitate revenue collection from citizens through digital banking platform.  The SBI e-Pay is the payment aggregator service wing of the bank which will facilitate on line payment of government dues by the customers of any public/ private sector banks by using the payment gateway of SBI. GIC Re Launched India’s Third Largest IPO  General Insurance Corp of India (GIC Re) kicked off its mega Rs 11,370 crore initial public offer (IPO).  It is the largest IPO in India in seven years.  This is India's third biggest IPO ever after Coal India's Rs 15,200 crore and Reliance Power's Rs 11,700 crore issues.  GIC Re is the largest reinsurance company in India and accounted for about 60% of the premiums ceded by Indian insurers to reinsurers during fiscal 2017, according to Crisil Research.  Reinsurance is insurance purchased by an insurance company from other insurance firms to manage their risk SBI Launched SME Assist for MSME Clients  The State Bank of India has launched a new product to provide a short-term working capital demand loan to its MSME clients.  The new initiative, called SME Assist, would offer loans to MSME customers on the basis of their input credit claims under Goods and Services Tax (GST).  This product will help them manage their working capital requirements till the time they get input credit. It will also help stabilise the SMEs to run their operations without any hurdle,  The loan processing fee under the scheme is Rs 2,000.  The companies applying for a loan under the product have to provide a certificate from their chartered accountant confirming the input credit claims.  Under the scheme, the SME borrowers would have a moratorium period for the first three months.  The ad-hoc amount can be repaid either in one bullet payment or in six EMIs in the next six months after the moratorium period is over. The SME customers of the bank can avail of the loan under the facility till March 31, 2018 HSBC Launches App to Track Trade Transactions  HSBC (Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) announced the launch of a mobile app - Trade Transaction Tracker - to help customers track the status of their trade transactions on a real-time basis.  This feature has been built into the existing HSBCnet mobile application and has been launched in selected countries in which HSBC operates, including India.  It will provide a global view of import and export documentary credit and collections transactions, across markets in one single app.

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INDIA CEO: Jayant Rikhye appointed HSBC India CEO, replaces Stuart Milne Global CEO – JOHN FLINT, Replaces Stuart Gulliver SBI to Set Up Country's Largest Innovation Centre at Mumbai  The nation's largest lender State Bank of India is creating a 15,000-sqft innovation center in Navi Mumbai investing around Rs 100 crore.  The center, to be built at its Global IT Centre in Belapur in Navi Mumbai, will be the largest innovation center by any financial services company in the country.  The innovation center is part of a Rs 200-crore allocation that the bank has earmarked for innovation 2016.  Apart from the proposed innovation centre, Rs 50 crore is allocated for procurements from innovative startups and taking equity stakes in new companies, while the remaining Rs 50 crore is for other needs like software procurements etc ICICI Bank Aid to Armed Forces  ICICI Bank, the country's largest private sector bank by consolidated assets, committed financial assistance of Rs. 10 crore to the Indian Armed Forces.  This contribution by ICICI Bank would be made in two equal tranches. This fund will be used for two programs.  The first will support post-graduation education of the widows of the soldiers and education for their wards.  The second program will provide financial assistance for marriages of the daughters of ex- servicemen. PNB MetLife Appoints Ashish Srivastava as MD & CEO  PNB MetLife India Insurance Company Ltd (PNB MetLife), a life insurer, has appointed Ashish Srivastava as a new Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of the company. RBI to soon Launch Financial Literacy Drive in 9 States  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is to launch a financial literacy drive in 80 blocks in nine states on the pilot basis to educate people on e-transactions, formal sector borrowings and insurance purchases.  Six NGOs registered with the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund -- CRISIL Foundation, Dhan Foundation, Swadhaar Fin Access, Indian School of Micro Finance for Women (ISMW), Samarpit and the PACE Foundation -- have been selected to execute the pilot project in collaboration with banks.  The pilot project, according to RBI will be commissioned in the 9 states of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Odisha, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh by the 6 NGOs in collaboration with the sponsor Banks.  The total cost of the pilot project over a period of three years is Rs 18.40 crore.  The aim of the CFL (Centre for Financial Literacy) is to inculcate the habit of making a household budget and recording financial transactions, encourage transactions in savings accounts, and active saving by depositing in banks through fixed deposits and recurring deposits.  Besides, the pilot project aims to ensure people borrow from formal finance institutions and approach banking Ombudsman for redressal of their grievances.  It will also "encourage e-transactions through electronic means viz NEFT, RTGS, IMPS, Internet Banking, Mobile Banking, UPI (Unified Payment Interface) etc

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Vijaya Bank Inks MoU with HPCL for Digital Payments  Vijaya Bank has entered into an MoU with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) for enabling all HPCL retail outlets with BHIM/UPI merchant solutions.  This rollout will empower all petrol pump attendants and LPG delivery personnel to accept digital payments.  Customers can make payments by scanning a payment QR code, using BHIM Vijaya or any BHIM app that supports payments via UPI.  Both Vijaya Bank and HPCL have inked the pact in line with the GOI initiative to encourage digital payments, especially BHIM/UPI. Tata AIA Life Launches CHATBOT ‘Eazy Connect’  Private insurer Tata AIA Life announced the launch of ‘Eazy Connect’ , that will extend online customer service to social media platforms.  The chatbot will be available through social media platforms and is developed to respond to the most frequently asked queries.  The chatbot is developed to respond to the most frequently asked queries and will provide 24/7 service. Reserve Bank of India Opens Branch in Dehradun  The Reserve Bank of India opened a branch in the Dehradun city to make transactions of the Uttarakhand State government more convenient.  Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat inaugurated the RBI's Branch.  Earlier, the state government had to do financial transactions through the Kanpur branch of the RBI HDFC Life Launched Neo, a Bot for Twitter  HDFC Life Insurance Company has launched 'Neo', a servicing bot for Twitter that uses artificial intelligence for customer service.  It is as part of its continued efforts towards offering more convenience to customers through utilization of robotics and artificial intelligence solutions  This is the second bot put in operation by HDFC Life, after the launch of SPOK, which was an email bot to answer customer queries.  The Neo bot will be available 24/7 and has the capability to authenticate customers and give frequently sought details, like fund value, sum assured and premium amount.  HDFC Life has taken up this endeavour in partnership with SmartConnect Technologies Air India Ties up with PNB, IndusInd  Air India has tied up with public sector lender PNB and private lender IndusInd Bank to secure loans to the tune of over Rs 3,000 crore for meeting working capital requirements.  Recently, the disinvestment-bound Air India had floated tenders for availing Govt. guarantee backed INR short-term loans totalling up to Rs 3,250 crore in the first phase to meet its urgent working capital.  Banks were asked to submit their financial bids by September 19, indicating the amount of government-guaranteed short-term loans they were willing to offer.  Punjab National Bank and IndusInd Bank have won the mandate to lend Air India the loan  Under a turnaround plan approved by the previous UPA government, Air India is to receive up to Rs 30,231 crore from the government subject to meeting certain performance thresholds.

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 The 10-year bailout package began from 2012.  On June 28, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had given in-principle approval for strategic disinvestment of Air India and five of its subsidiaries MCX launches India’s first commodity options in Gold.  Largest commodity bourse Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) launched India’s first commodity options in gold.  It was launched by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.  The gold futures contract will have bi-monthly duration. India ranks 8th in 2017 Valuable Nation Brand List.  According to Brand Finance’s recently released Nation Brands 2017 report, India was ranked 8th out of 100 countries on a list of most valuable nation brands.  This year India slipped by one spot compared to 7th rank in 2016 and ceded its previous spot to Canada  Top 10 Valuable Nation brands are  United States (1st), China (2nd), Germany (3rd), Japan (4th), United Kingdom (5th), France (6th), Canada (7th), India (8th), Italy (9th) and South Korea (10th)  In terms of valuation, India’s National Brand Value in 2017 is $2.04 trillion, down by 1% from last year’s $2.06 trillion.  However, India’s brand rating has improved from ‘AA-‘ to ‘AA”.  Despite rating improvement, India has not feature in list of 10 best performing nation brands IMF lowers India’s growth forecast to 6.7 %.  The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its October World Economic Outlook (WEO) has lowered India’s economic growth forecast at 6.7% in 2017 and 7.4% in 2018.  It is slower than 0.5 and 0.3 percentage points projected earlier by IMF.  In April 2017 forecast, IMF had revised upwards India’s growth performance for 2016 to 7.1% as opposed to 6.8%.  The report has cited impact of demonetisation and implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) for expected slowdown during the current and the next year.

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Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime officially came into force from July 1, 2017.  Government launched the Goods and Services Tax (GST) at a special midnight meeting in Central Hall of Parliament. 122nd Amendment Bill 101st Amendment Act  As per an order issued by Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), July 1 will be known as ‘GST Day’ and will be celebrated in all offices of CBEC just as Central Excise Day and International Customs Day.  France was the first to introduce GST. Canada and India has dual GST model CBEC Chairman – Vanaja Sarna CBDT Chairman – Sushil Chandra  In order to facilitate smooth switchover to GST, Government has asked tax offices to convert into GST Seva-Kendras for providing all assistance to tax payers. ‘One Nation, One Tax, One Market’  India's economic growth slipped to a three-year low of 5.7 per cent in April-June as disruptions caused by demonetisation spilled over to the third straight quarter amid slowdown in manufacturing activities. UNITED NATIONS – 7.3% in 2017, 7.9% in 2018  The UN World Economic Situation and Prospects as of mid- 2017 report, said India is projected to achieve a 7.3% growth in 2017, a downward revision from the 7.7% forecast for the year made when the report was launched in January.  The revised report, however, projected that India will achieve an impressive 7.9% GDP growth in 2018, revising upwards its January estimates when it had said India’s growth will be 7.6% next year. ADB– 7% in 2017-18, 7.4% in 2018-19  The Asian Development Bank has lowered India’s growth forecast to 7 per cent for 2017-18 from its earlier estimate of 7.4 per cent owing to weak private consumption and business investment and muted manufacturing output.  It has also scaled down its outlook for 2018-19 at 7.4 per cent from the previous projection of 7.6 per cent. IMF – 7.2% in 2017, 7.7% in 2018  IMF projects India to grow at 7.7 per cent in 2018, estimating a significant increase against the backdrop of ongoing economic reforms.  In April, owing to the impact of demonetisation of high-value currency, the IMF had cut India's annual growth forecast by 0.4 percentage points to 7.2 per cent for 2017.  The IMF estimates a global growth rate of 3.5 per cent this year, which is projected to increase to 3.6 per cent in 2018.

Bloomberg & RBI  Growth in India has been slowing for the past five quarters and a Bloomberg survey published last week forecast India’s GDP will grow at 6.8 percent in the financial year through March 2018.  The RBI cut its forecast for gross value added -- a key input of GDP -- to 6.7 percent from 7.3 percent. Economic Survey Growth in 2017-18 Will be 6.75 to 7.5 % CRISIL  Crisil cuts its GDP growth forecast for India to 7% for 2017-18, down from 7.4% earlier, as it sees disruptions arising from GST implementation to continue to impact the economy for a few more quarters

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MOODY’s  The Indian economy will grow at 7.5 percent in the current fiscal, which will accelerate to 8 percent in about four years  “We expect marginally faster growth in India. According to our forecast the economy will grow 7.5 percent in fiscal year 2017 (2017-18) and 7.7 percent in fiscal year 2018 (2018-19),” With 6% growth, India to surpass China as fastest growing oil market in 2018

OECD  India’s GDP growth rate will overtake China’s in the next financial year as per the Interim Economic Outlook report released by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).  the latest projection by the Paris-based association for 2017 states that India’s economic growth will likely reach 6.7 % in place of 7.3 % predicted in June The OECD report maintains that the economy will regain its momentum and achieve a growth of 7.2 percent in 2018, overtaking China that will see a growth rate of 6.6 percent during the same period. Fitch lowers India's growth forecast to 6.9% for FY18 from 7.4%  Indian economy to grow 6.7% in 2017-18 – OECD In 2017-18, India’s growth is forecast to be 6.7% compared to June projection of 7.3%, as per the OECD Interim Economic Outlook. India contributes USD 500,000 to UN Peace-building Fund  India has been a member of the Peace-building Commission since its inception in December 2005 and has so far contributed USD 5 million to the Peacebuilding Fund.  The fresh contribution of USD 500,000 to the fund will be effected over the coming days.  The fund was launched to support activities, actions, programmes and organisations that seek to build a lasting peace in countries emerging from conflict India's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN : Tanmaya Lal.  India's Permanent Representative to the UN : Syed Akbaruddin Govt slashes small savings interest rate by 10 basis points  Slashed interest rates on small savings schemes by 10 basis points for the July-September period from the rates applicable in the previous quarter, a move that will prompt banks to lower deposit rates.  A finance ministry notification said rates have been reduced across the board for schemes such as National Savings Certificate, Sukanya Samriddhi Account, Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) and Public Provident Fund (PPF). Interest on savings deposits has been retained at 4% annually.

 As per the notification, PPF will fetch a lower annual rate of 7.8% while KVP will yield 7.5% and mature in 115 months.  The girl child savings scheme Sukanya Samriddhi Account will offer 8.3% annually.  Investments in the five-year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme will yield 8.3%. The interest rate on the senior citizens’ scheme is paid quarterly.  Term deposits of 1-5 years will fetch a lower rate of 6.8-7.6%, to be paid quarterly, while the five-year recurring deposit is pegged at 7.1%. LATEST (October)  Interest rates for small savings schemes are to be notified on a quarterly basis since April 1, 2016  PPF - 7.8%, Kisan Vikas Patra - 7.5%, Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme - 8.3%, Senior Citizens Savings Scheme - 8.3% PNB blocked all Maestro debit cards starting from July 31  Punjab National Bank (PNB) Maestro debit cards holders will face a card blockage if they fail to replace it with a more secure EMV chip based card  The bank will not charge anything for the replacement and it will be provided free of cost.

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 All Maestro cards issued by PNB will be blocked or hot listed on July 31, 2017 for security-based reasons  The replacement is as per RBI advisory issued in 2015, asking all the banks to migrate to a much secured EMV chip based cards  PNB’s card base stands at around 5.65 crore.  As per RBI advisory, existing magnetic stripe only cards need to be replaced with EMV chip and pin based cards by December 31, 2018, irrespective of the validity period of the cards.  And from January 31, 2016 onwards, banks are directed to issue only EMV based debit and credit cards.  The EMV standard blocks criminals from misusing payment card data by safeguarding four operations that occur in the background of every electronic transaction: identification, authentication, verification and authorization. Big Four of EMV.  “Identification” starts with the presentation of the identifier or primary account number or “PAN” – the 16 digits on the front of the card. The first six of those numbers contain the bank identification number or BIN. Of those six, the first identifies the card network, such as Visa = 4 or MasterCard = 5. The remaining five digits identify the financial  institution that issued the card. The middle nine digits designate the cardholder’s account number, while the final digit assures that the number has been read correctly.  “Authentication” determines whether the card carrying the identification is the genuine card and not a counterfeit or fake.  “Verification” is a process that proves that the person using the card is the right person. First is the continued use of signature as a means of cardholder verification. The next introduces PIN as the means of verification.  “Authorization” is the process that confirms that the holder has certain rights or privileges – like a drivers license conveys the right to drive a car or a company identification card conveys the right to enter our place of employment or a restricted area within that building. In a payment transaction the card and the authorization request are used to assure the merchant that a customer has sufficient funds or credit to pay for the goods or services. Deadline for linking Aadhaar card with PAN for tax returns - December 31, 2017  In August, the Central Board of Direct Taxes extended the last date for linking of Aadhaar with PAN to help taxpayers. The new deadline is December 31, 2017. Earlier, this deadline was August 31, 2017.  Linking of Aadhaar with PAN is mandatory for processing of ITRs for assessment year 2017-18  Income Tax Department said. "If this linking (PAN-Aadhaar) is skipped, the return could be considered invalid and the person may have to file it again which shall be considered belated and may attract penalty, interest and other consequences like disallowances for losses Deadline for linking Aadhaar with mobile number (SIM) - February 6, 2018:  Telecom companies such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea have been sending alerts to customers about completing the Aadhaar-SIM (mobile number) linking process.  Aadhaar based re-verification is to be done only once on a number. As per the instructions received from DoT (Department of Telecommunications), it is mandatory that the E-KYC (Aadhaar-based) re-verification needs to be completed before 6th Feb 2018 by all Telecom operators." Deadline for submitting Aadhaar details to banks/financial institutions - December 31, 2017:  Existing bank account holders have been asked to furnish the Aadhaar number issued by the UIDAI by December 31, 2017, failing which the account will cease to be operational, according to a revenue department notification. Last date to give Aadhaar details to avail social security schemes - December 31, 2017

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 Aadhaar number has to be provided for availing of all social security schemes by December 31, 2017. In order to avail pension, LPG cylinders or government scholarships, one must provide his or her Aadhaar card details. Coming soon – LICENSE – AADHAAR LINKING  Meanwhile, the government also plans to make linking of Aadhaar mandatory for driving licence.  "It (Aadhaar-Licence linking) would be done soon to check the menace of multiple licensing," Electronics and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said. Karnataka Bank launched KBL-Image Debit Card  Karnataka Bank has launched the ‘KBL-Image Debit Card’ on 2nd of July 2017.  Karnataka Bank has enabled its cardholders to personalize the card with the image of his/her choice.  The customers will have the option of selecting an image either from the bank’s gallery of images or any image of his/her choice to be printed on the debit card  Part Time (Non-Executive) Chairman : P Jayarama Bhatt MD & CEO– M S Mahabaleshwar

Bashar Assad face of new Syria bank note  President Bashar al-Assad has appeared on the Syrian currency for the first time, his portrait printed on a new 2,000-pound banknote that went into circulation .  Central bank governor Duraid Durgham said the 2,000-pound note was one of several new notes printed years ago but the decision to put it into circulation was delayed "due to the circumstances of the war and exchange rate fluctuations“  The new note is equal to around $4 at current exchange rates.

 Previously, the highest denomination of Syrian banknote was 1,000 pounds  Assad's father, the late President Hafez al-Assad who died in 2000, appeared on coins and on an older version of the 1,000 pound note, which is still in circulation. Mr Durgham said the new note was put into circulation "in Damascus and a number of the provinces

FINO becomes payments bank  According to the Reserve Bank of India FINO Payments Bank has commenced the operations as a  payments bank with effect from 30th June, 2017  FINO Pay Tech Ltd, Navi Mumbai, was one of the 11 applicants which were issued in principle approval for setting up a payments bank.  It is now live with 410 branches across 14 states and a network of 25,000 banking points.  It will offer banking services such as current & savings accounts, remittances, business correspondent (BC) lending, mobile banking through the BPay app, life & general insurance and bill payments.  Fino BPay is one stop solution for the fastest online payment, Mobile recharge and Utility payment. It’s simple, fast & secure. Fino BPay is not only the best Mobile Recharge, Utility payment app, but also allows you to pay for Fuel at petrol pumps, Pay for LPG cylinder.

Following its launch, Fino has become the fourth Payments Bank in the country, after Airtel, India Post and Paytm  Fino Payments Bank CEO Rishi Gupta said that he sees four sources of income for the payments bank business:  One is the balance in the accounts.  Second is the remittance business.  The third revenue stream will be coming in from the Banking Correspondents and lending business.  The fourth is the insurance cross-sell and other cross sales

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 They will offer interest rates of around 4%.  PayTm – also 4%  India post – 5.5 %  Currently, Airtel Payments Bank offers one of the highest interest rates on deposits at 7.25 % per annum for savings accounts.  Fino has also partnered ICICI Bank to set up ICICI ATMs at the branches  Fino had partnered National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development’s (NABARD) to deploy 5,000 Aadhaar-enabled micro ATMs across villages in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat and Maharashtra as part of NABARD’s push for rural banking.  Also note that in April, Fino had signed an MoU with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), which owns a 21% stake in Fino, to set up a digital banking and payments ecosystem using BPCL outlets in six states – Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra  Fino had raised Rs 149 crore in funding from ICICI Prudential Life Insurance and ICICI Lombard General Insurance among other investors, in January this year.  foreign shareholding must be below 50% - Reserve Bank of India’s guidelines for a payments bank.

Payment Banks  The objectives of setting up of payments banks will be to further financial inclusion by providing (1) small savings accounts (2) payments/remittance services to migrant labour workforce, low- income households, small businesses, other unorganised sector entities and other users.  They will not lend to customers and will have to deploy their funds in government papers and bank deposits. Scope of activities  Acceptance of demand deposits-Payments bank will initially be restricted to holding a maximum balance of Rs. 100,000 per individual customer. Issuance of ATM/debit cards-Payments banks, however, cannot issue credit cards. Payments and remittance services through various channels. Business Correspondents (BC) of another bank, subject to the Reserve Bank guidelines on BCs. Distribution of non-risk sharing simple financial products like mutual fund units and insurance products, etc.

ADB pledges USD 220mn for improving road connectivity in Rajasthan  For improving road connectivity as well as transport efficiency and safety on state highways of Rajasthan.  The loan is the first tranche of the USD 500 million Rajasthan State Highways Investment Programme, approved by the ADB Board in May this year.  This will upgrade about 2,000 kilometers of state highways and major district roads to two- lane or intermediate-lane standards to meet road safety requirements.

India, ADB ink $375 Million loan pact for industrial corridor  India and ADB have signed USD 375 million pact for loans and grants to develop 800—km Visakhapatnam—Chennai Industrial Corridor, which is the first phase of a planned 2,500-km East Coast Economic Corridor.  Manila based ADB, established in 1966, is owned by 67 members — 48 from the Asian region. ADB Loan to Help Modernize Technical Education in Himachal Pradesh  The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Board of Directors has approved an $80 million loan to help modernize Himachal Pradesh’s technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions and programs to enhance job prospects of the state’s youth.  The total cost of the project is $100 million, with the Government of India contributing $20 million. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.

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Ratio = 4:1

 The financing by ADB and government of India to modernize Himachal Pradesh’s technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions is in the ratio of ? 1) 4:1 2) 3:2 3) 1:4 4) 1:2

ADB Earmarks Up to $4 Billion a Year for New Partnership with India 2018-2022  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) plans to raise its annual lending to India to a maximum of $4 billion to support the country to accelerate inclusive economic transformation toward upper middle-income status, as laid out in a new ADB Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for 2018- 2022 ADB’s program in India will focus on three main pillars of activity during the 5- year period— 1. boosting economic competitiveness to create more and well-paid job 2. improved access to infrastructure and services 3. addressing climate change and improving climate resilience.  About 85% of lending will be focused on transport, energy, and urban infrastructure and services.  The planned lending level, which includes private sector operations, compares with an average of $2.65 billion a year in loans extended in the period 2012-2016 Kenichi Yokoyama, ADB Country Director in India TAKEHIKO NAKAO – PRESIDENT, ADB HQ – MANILA JAPAN > USA> CHINA > INDIA

ADB + AIIB Co-financing Green Energy Corridor and Grid Strengthening Project in India  In support of the Indian government’s Green Energy Corridor initiative, ADB’s Board of Directors approved in December 2015 two loans to build and upgrade inter-regional grid systems between the western and southern regions, and high voltage transmission lines and substations in the northern region.  The system will mainly deliver solar and wind energy to wider locations in India. The ADB financing for this comprised a $500 million government-backed loan and a further $500 million in nonsovereign lending to India’s national transmission company, Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID).  To increase energy delivery to more provinces in India, the project will now be expanded to include 400 kilovolt transmission components in Tamil Nadu to connect at Pugalur with the long- distance grid systems financed by ADB.  ADB will provide $50 million from savings from the earlier loans while AIIB’s approved co- financing of $100 million for this component, which has a total cost of $303.5 million. POWERGRID will finance the remainder.

 Connecting Rajasthan's Solar Power to India's National Grid  Rajasthan will soon be transmitting up to 8,000 megawatts of renewable energy to the national grid.  The Government of India, the Asian Development Bank and the Clean Technology Fund are supporting this effort through the $800 million Rajasthan Renewable Energy Transmission Investment Program Since 2016, ADB has co-financed four projects with AIIB 1. M4 expressway development in Pakistan for which ADB and AIIB are each providing $100 million.

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2. Project to improve natural gas production and transmission in Bangladesh, financed by $167 million from ADB and $60 million from AIIB. 3. Project to build a bypass road skirting the port city of Batumi, Georgia’s second largest city, financed by $114 million from ADB with the same amount coming from AIIB.

ADB ASIAN GROWTH FORECAST 2017 – 5.9% 2018 – 5.8% CHINA – 2017 – 6.7% 2018 – 6.4% INDIA– 2017 – 7% 2018 – 7.4% $300 Million Loan to Promote Further Fiscal Reforms in West Bengal  The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Board of Directors has approved a loan of $300 million to continue a comprehensive series of fiscal reforms in West Bengal to bring about more accessible, affordable, and high quality public services.  The new program, which will be undertaken over two years, will also carry forward reforms such as linking medium term expenditure plans to actual budgets, supported by strengthening internal audit system, and enhancements in the integrated financial management system (IFMS).  ADB, IndusInd Bank Partner to Provide Up to $200 Million for Women in Less Developed States of India  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a loan of up to $200 million with IndusInd Bank to provide finance to low income women borrowers in rural India. The 7-year senior loan will go toward IndusInd Bank’s microfinance activities.  At least 95% of ADB’s funding for the project will be used to provide credit to women borrowers, and at least 70% of the number of loans will be deployed in India’s less developed states IndusInd Bank, listed on the Bombay and National Stock Exchanges, is the sixth largest private bank in the country. It has a nationwide network of 1,210 branches. ADB Signs $300 Million Loan for Roads in Uttar Pradesh This will upgrade about 430 kilometers of major district roads in the state. ADB to Help 200,000 Indian Youths Develop Skills for Better Jobs, Income  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan of $102 million to help the Government of India train around 200,000 youths aged 15-34 in Odisha — in the eastern part of India — to develop their skills and prepare them for better work and higher-paying jobs.  The total cost of the project is $162 million with the Government of Odisha contributing $60 million. The project is expected to be completed by mid-2022.  ADB, India Sign $275 Million Loan for Upgrading Urban Services in Madhya Pradesh  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India today signed a $275 million loan for improving urban services to about 300,000 households in 64 small towns in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.  Along with ADB’s loan, the Government of Madhya Pradesh will provide counterpart support of $124 million. The project will run for almost five years with an expected completion date of June 2022. $100 Million ADB Loan to Punjab National Bank to Finance Solar Rooftop Projects  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Punjab National Bank (PNB) signed a $100 million loan — to be guaranteed by the Government of India — that will finance large solar rooftop systems on industrial and commercial buildings throughout India.  The PNB will use the ADB funds to make further loans to various developers and end users to install rooftop solar systems. Plot-1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRP Square, Bhubaneswar-751015 Ph. : (0674) 6556677, 8093556677. Web : www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] 54 CURRENT AFFAIRS READY RECKONER FOR IBPS PO

PART-2 Commemorative coins 'Sagar Samrat' - the oil exploration platform Its photo is on which Indian note ?  India issued its first commemorative coin series back in 1964 in the honour of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. It was the same year of Nehru’s passing away.  The government issued commemorative coins of denominations Rs 100 and Rs 10 in the honour of karnatic singer MS Subbalakshmi.  On the eve of Teachers’ day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released two commemorative coins of Rs 125 and Rs 10 in the memory of former President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.  The government issued commemorative coins of Rs 100 and Rs 5 denomination in the honour of iconic Indian actor and politician Late MG Ramachandran  The Reserve Bank put into circulation new Rs. 10 coins that have been minted to commemorate 25th year of National Archives of India. The central bank will also put into circulation new Rs. 5 coins to celebrate 150th anniversary of Allahabad High Court.  150th birth anniversary of the Jain poet-thinker Shrimad Rajchandraji  PM Modi releases commemorative coins, stamp  Stamp of Rs 5 and coins of Rs 150 and Rs 10 denominations  To mark the 150th birth anniversary of the Jain poet-thinker, which has coincided with the Sabarmati Ashram's centenary celebrations.  Spiritual mentor of Mahatma Gandhi. 100 years commemorative coins of the University of Mysore The coins in Rs. 100 and Rs. 5 denominations  Latent image with denominational numeral 200 which can be seen when the banknote is held at 45 degrees angle at eye level.  See through register with denominational numeral 200 can be seen when the note is held against light.

 Denominational numeral २०० in Devnagari

4. Portrait of Mahatma Gandhi at the centre 5. Micro letters 'RBI', '....', 'India' and '200'

 Windowed security thread with inscriptions 'भारत' and RBI with colour shift. Colour of the thread changes from green to blue when the note is tilted  Guarantee Clause, Governor's signature with Promise Clause and RBI emblem towards right of Mahatma Gandhi Portrait  Denominational numeral with Rupee Symbol, Rs 200 in colour changing ink (green to blue) on bottom right  Ashoka Pillar emblem on the right Mahatma Gandhi portrait and electrotype (200) Watermarks  Number panel with numerals growing from small to big on the top left side and bottom right side  For visually impaired: Intaglio or raised printing of Mahatma Gandhi portrait, Ashoka Pillar emblem, raised Identification mark H with microtext ₹200, four angular bleed lines with two circles in between the lines both on the right and left sides  Year of printing of the note on the left Swachh Bharat logo with slogan Language panel Motif of Sanchi Stupa  Denominational numeral ... in Devnagari Dimension of the banknote will be 66 mm x 146 mm  The new denomination has Motif of Sanchi Stupa on the reverse, depicting the country’s cultural heritage. The base colour of the note is Bright Yellow. The note has other designs, geometric patterns aligning with the overall colour scheme, both at the obverse and reverse.

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UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1989 Commissioned by Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Dynasty, Buddhist Architecture Obverse 1. See through register with denominational numeral 50. 2. Denominational numeral in Devnagari. 3. Portrait of Mahatma Gandhi at the centre. 4. Micro letters 'RBI', BHARAT in Devnagri, 'INDIA' and '50'. 5. Windowed demetalised security thread with inscriptions 'BHARAT' in Devnagri and RBI. 6. Guarantee Clause, Governor's signature with Promise Clause and RBI emblem towards right of Mahatma Gandhi portrait. 7. Ashoka Pillar emblem on the right. 8. Mahatma Gandhi portrait and electrotype (50) watermarks. 9. Number panel with numerals growing from small to big on the top left side and bottom right side. Reverse 1. Year of printing on the left. 2. Swachh Bharat logo with slogan. 3. Language panel. 4. Motif of Hampi with Chariot. 5. Denominational numeral 50 in Devnagari. 50 rupee – No Inset Letter 500 rupee (Just after demonetisation) – E New 500 – A (RED FORT)  Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has unveiled the new £10 polymer banknote featuring Jane Austen on the 200th anniversary of her death.  The big reveal took place at Winchester Cathedral, where Austen was buried following her death in 1817.  Austen is the only woman - apart from the Queen - to feature on an English bank note, Jane Austen was chosen to replace Charles Darwin on the £10 note  A new polymer £20 note featuring the painter JMW Turner will be released in 2020  Among her most acclaimed novels are Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice and Emma.  A quote from Austen’s Pride and Prejudice— “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!” — also appears on the note  It is also the first Bank of England note to include a tactile feature to help visually-impaired people Bank unions observed July 19 as 'Save public sector banks day  The United Forum of Bank Unions has decided to observe July 19, the 48th anniversary of nationalisation of major banks, as 'Save public sector banks' day.  All members wore a commemorative badge on the day, display posters in front of all branches, distribute leaflets and hold rallies/demonstrations at all centres across the country.  The main challenge that they face today is the alarmingly increasing bad loans euphemistically known as non-performing assets. Black Money  Any amount over Rs 2 lakh will have to be paid by account payee cheque, bank draft or electronic bank transfer.  Similarly, receiving or repaying Rs. 20,000 or more in cash for transfer of immovable property and paying more than Rs. 10,000 in cash relating to expenditure of business or profession is also banned. Case 1: Receiving money from one person in a day against various bills of goods or services  Even if you are receiving money in respect of various bills from the same person, you would fall in the net. Hence, those planning to break the amount receivable from a single person into

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various bills ensuring that each bill is for less than Rs 2 lakh, in order to avoid the penal implication would fail. Case 2: Receipt of cash in respect of a single transaction on different dates  Sale of goods or service or asset entailing receipt of cash on various dates shall be clubbed to check the limit of Rs 2 lakh. Hence, those selling a property/good/service for cash, receiving cash in  instalments of less than Rs 2 lakh a day, would not go scot free and would be liable to penal implications Case 3: The limit of Rs 2 lakh on cash transaction is not restricted to income  One must keep in mind that this limit on cash receipt is not restricted to the receipts of income. Even an amount of loan repayment, reimbursement, gift from a relative, receipt of agricultural income or other tax exempt receipts are within the purview of this provision. Those receiving cash beyond the prescribed limit in respect of any transaction, would be liable to penal actions. Keeping in mind the genuine cases, the government has provided for certain exceptions.  Case 1: Relief for those receiving cash in respect of one event or occasion from various persons, since the limit of cash is in respect of one occasion / event from one person.  Hence, receiving cash from various relatives on the occasion of marriage would remain out of the purview of these penal provisions. Even an event organiser receiving the money in cash from various persons for one event, would not be liable to shell out the penalty. Case 2: Cash deposits and withdrawals from one’s own bank remain out of the purview of these penal provisions. Hence some respite for traders dealing in cash owing to the structure of the Indian economy. Case 3: The restriction is not applicable to any receipt by government, banking company, post office savings bank or co-operative bank.

Credit card bill payment exempt from cash dealing limit of Rs 2 lakh  As per a notification issued by Revenue Department, restrictions on cash dealings of Rs. 2 lakh or more will not apply to credit card bill payments, business correspondents appointed by banks and issuers of prepaid instruments.  The Finance Act 2017 banned cash transaction of Rs 2 lakh or above with effect April 1, 2017. However, some exceptions were made.  The Income Tax Department has exempted five entities from the purview of this Section  The newly inserted section 269ST in the Income Tax Act bans such cash dealings on a single day, in respect of a single transaction or transactions relating to one event or occasion from an individual. “Contravention of Section 269ST would entail levy of 100 per cent penalty on receiver of the amount,” the tax department said in a public advertisement in leading dailies.  In the 2017-18 Budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had proposed to ban cash transaction of over Rs. 3 lakh. This limit was lowered to Rs. 2 lakh as an amendment to the Finance Bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha in March.  The restriction is not applicable to any receipt by government, banking company, post office savings bank or co-operative bank These include :  Receipts by a business correspondent on behalf of a banking company or cooperative bank  Receipt by a company or institution issuing credit cards against bills raised in respect of one or more credit cards.  Receipt from an agent by an issuer of pre-paid payment instruments  Receipt by a white label ATM operator from retail outlet  And receipt which is not includible in the total income under clause (17A) of section 10 of the I-T Act, 1961, have been excluded from the purview of the Section 269ST.

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Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank  The bank was formally established in Beijing on 25 December 2015.  China’s former Finance Minister Lou Jiwei was elected as the first Chairman of the Bank’s Council while its former Finance Minister Jin Liqun was elected its first President. Headquarters: Beijing.  Members: Total there are 57 members, of which 37 are regional and 20 nonregional Prospective Founding Members (PFM). Voting share: For each member country it is based on the size of their economy and not on authorised capital share to the Bank. Largest shareholders: China is highest contributor with 30.34 percent stake in authorized capital. It has 26.06 per cent of the voting rights along with veto powers for certain key decisions. India is second largest shareholder with 8.52 per cent stake and voting share of 7.5 per cent. India signs USD 329 million loan pact with AIIB for Gujarat road project.  The agreement was signed by Joint Secretary (MI) in the Ministry of Finance, Sameer Kumar Khare, on behalf of India and Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, AIIB, D J Pandian on behalf of the AIIB.  The objective of the project is to improve the rural road connectivity and accessibility (by providing all weather road connectivity) to 1,060 villages in all the 33 districts in Gujarat state benefiting about 8 million people  The World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) have together agreed to extend $380 million of loan to Andhra Pradesh towards helping the southern state build a reliable, quality and affordable power supply to citizens. World Bank has signed an agreement with the government of India and Andhra Pradesh government to extend $240 million of loan. AIIB has also signed a $140 million loan, which is considered the first such project in India to be cofinanced by it. The World Bank and AIIB will provide loans in a 60:40 ratio for all the components of the project that is aimed at providing 24X7 power for all. India to host 2018 AIIB Annual Meeting  Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) announced that the Bank’s third Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors will be held in Mumbai, India in June 2018. Yes Bank clinches new pact with Santander in UK  Yes Bank, India’s fourth-largest private sector bank signed an MoU in London with Santander to promote India-UK trade and business opportunities.  The deal is aimed at Santander UK, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Spanish Santander Group, offering its clients in Britain access to banking facilities and on-the-ground support through Yes Bank’s network across India.  The MoU also covers access for Indian businesses looking to expand globally to access Santander’s support network in the UK. Axis Bank rolls out loans for super bikes  The loans, which are for motorcycles with an engine displacement of over 500 cubic centimetres (cc), will come at a price tag of 10-11 per cent per annum.  Under the product offering, the private sector bank will give loans up to 95 per cent of the bike cost including accessory funding with special offers & programmes for its own high net worth individual customers.  Indians are aspirational of owning iconic brands like Harley Davidson and Triumph which made the bank launch the offer.  Srei, Russian development bank to create $200 mn innovation fund.  Kolkata-headquartered Srei Infrastructure Finance has signed an MoU with Russia's Vnesheconombank on to create a $200 million IT and Innovation Fund.  The MoU was signed last month at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in the presence of Prime-Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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 This MoU provides for a credit line to Srei of up to $500 million. Srei Chairman and Managing Director : Hemant Kanoria.

Indus OS partners with YES Bank to launch OS-integrated UPI platform.  Users with Indus OS will be able to use this UPI payment platform on SMS/ messaging, dialler interface, and on third party apps like WhatsApp.  Indus OS is the world's first regional operating system made for smartphones in India & other emerging markets.  This means P2P transactions as well as utility payments can be made via SMS or messaging. The platform is expected to launch in this quarter.  Users will be able to initiate payments through a ₹ symbol in Indus Keyboard, within the messaging app.  It allows sending money directly to contacts that user is chatting with. Indus OS is also looking to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) that will contextually suggest UPI payments in the messaging applications.  The UPI platform will be linked to Aadhaar as well.  About 35 per cent of all UPI transactions in India are done via YES Bank, claims company.  Over 10,000 online and offline merchants are being powered by YES Bank’s UPI payments solutions.  Indus OS (formerly known as Firstouch) is an Indian mobile operating system based on Android. In India, the operating system has gained popularity, ranking above iOS & Windows and only behind Android.  The operating system also has its own app market place called App Bazaar.  Indus OS was founded in 2015 by Rakesh Deshmukh, Akash Dongre and Sudheer B. CEO : Rakesh Deshmukh EPFO ties up with 5 banks to collect PF dues  Retirement fund body EPFO signed agreements with four private banks and one public sector bank for collection of provident fund (PF) dues and make payments of PF withdrawals, pension and insurance at zero transaction charges.  The agreement with Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank will help the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) save around₹125 crore a year.  Earlier, collection of PF dues had been started with PNB, Allahabad Bank, Indian Bank, Union Bank of India and State Bank of India through direct online mode.  Now, employers having bank accounts with these banks can deposit PF dues directly in EPFO’s account using internet banking on real-time basis, instead of going through the aggregator mode.  In the absence of this arrangement, the EPFO had to collect dues and make payments through the aggregator mode, with each transaction costing around ₹ 12.  The transaction charges for making payments to members in their accounts in different banks used to cost us ₹350 crore a year.  This was reduced to ₹175 crore after PNB, Allahabad Bank, Indian Bank, and Union Bank of India started online collection of dues, in addition to SBI,” Central Provident Fund Commissioner VP Joy told.  After inking agreements with five more banks, these charges would be reduced to around ₹50 crore a year, he added. South Indian Bank ties up with PFG Forex.  South Indian Bank has tied up with PFG Forex for remittance facility for the benefit of Indian expatriates from Australia.  The new facility will leverage the bank to reach the Indian diaspora.  Under this arrangement, NRIs can enjoy cost-effective and fast remittance services using SIB's Express facility. NRIs can visit the PFG Forex outlets across Australia for remittances to India.

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 SIB is already having correspondent banking arrangement with National Australia Bank and Fly World Money Exchange for remittances to India.  Recently SIB’s international banking division has been awarded the ISO 9001: 2015 certification for Quality Management System

ICICI Bank, Fairfax pact terminated.  ICICI Bank said the joint venture agreement with Fairfax Financial Holdings has been terminated ahead of the IPO of ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company —a joint venture between the two entities.  A Termination Agreement is a customary provision for an IPO.  As at March-end 2017, ICICI Bank had 63.31 per cent ownership interest in ICICI General.  In 1994, Fairfax had acquired Continental Canada and renamed it Lombard Insurance. In 2000, ICICI  Bank and Fairfax floated ICICI Lombard.  According to ICICI Bank’s annual report, ICICI General became the first private general insurance company in India to cross ₹10,000 crore in premium income in FY17. SBI cuts saving account rate by 0.5 percent on balance up to Rs 1 crore  Country’s largest lender State Bank of India has slashed interest on savings account deposits by 50 basis points to 3.5 per cent on balance up to Rs 1 crore.  The bank introduced two-tier saving bank interest rate with effect from July 31.  While balance above Rs 1 crore will continue to earn interest at 4 per cent per annum, interest at 3.5 per cent will be offered on balance of Rs 1 crore and below. RBI slaps Rs 3 crore penalty on Union Bank for KYC non-compliance in two cases  While in one case a penalty of Rs 2 crore has been imposed, Rs1 crore has been slapped in another case.  Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that based on media reports related to a fraud in a bank, it conducted an examination of certain accounts in Union Bank of India, which had substantial transactions.  Upon examination of the documents obtained in this regard, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed for noncompliance with directions issued by RBI," the central bank said in a statement. Union Bank of India HQ – Mumbai CEO – Arun Tiwari Canara Bank forays into paperless banking, launches first digital branch in Bengaluru.  Titled ‘CANDI’, the branch will provide an end-to-end digital experience to customers.  The bank, as part of the run-up to its digital foray, has introduced customer-friendly mobile apps which help customers get most of the information related to their accounts from the app without the need to visit.  The most attractive feature of the Digital Branch is a humanoid robot that addresses basic queries of customers on banking products and services.  This is a first-of-its kind initiative by a public sector bank in the country. CEO of Canara Bank : Shri. Rakesh Sharma India among top nations with potential for digital payments’ -Digital Evolution Index.  India has emerged strong, exhibiting a high potential in terms of digital payments and has been categorised under the "break out" segment among 60 countries, according to the Digital Evolution Index 2017.  The Fletcher School at Tufts University in partnership with Master card, unveiled the Digital Evolution Index 2017.

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 The Index is a comprehensive research that tracks the progress countries have made in developing their digital economies and integrating connectivity into the lives of billions  The 'break out' segment refers to countries that have relatively lower absolute levels of digital advancement, yet remain poised for growth and are attractive to investors by virtue of their potential, a statement issued by Mastercard said.  The report outlined that India has been experiencing rapid strides of progress with an evolving payments landscape, catalysed by the government’s demonetisation decision.  With new players foraying into the market and an entire gamut of solutions for alternate payments, the India payment ecosystem is growing each day.  The Index measures four key drivers - supply, consumer demand, institutional environment, and innovation  Ajaypal "Ajay" Singh Banga is the current president and chief executive officer of MasterCard Indian Overseas Bank goes live with Bharat Bill Payment system  Public sector Indian Overseas Bank has offered Bharat Bill Payment System, introduced by the National Payments Corporation of India, for its customers.  BBPS is an integrated bill payment system that offers inter-operable online bill payments to customers.  The services incude online payments of electricity, telecommunication, DTH, water and gas bills,  Indian Overseas Bank is one of the three public sector banks (apart from Bank of Baroda and Union Bank of India) to get the approval from RBI for providing the service. Headquarters IOB: Chennai CEO: R. Subramaniakumar. NPCI gets RBI nod to operate Bharat Bill Payment System.  National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella organization for all retail payment systems in the country, has received the final nod from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to function as the Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit and operate the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS).  Nearly 45 crore bills which comprise electricity, telecom, DTH, water and gas are permitted under BBPS  At present the bulk of transactions on BBPS are towards payment of electricity bills.  The power sector potentially contributes to about 180 million bills per month out of which only 10% is digital.  The likelihood of meeting the target of generating 25 billion digital transactions during the current fiscal year depends critically on the power sector getting on-boarded on BBPS system.  National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is an umbrella organization for all retail payments system in India.  It was set up with the guidance and support of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and IndianBanks’ Association (IBA).  It was incorporated as a Section 25 company under Companies Act 1956 (now Section 8 of Companies Act 2013) and is aimed to operate for the benefit of all the member banks and their customers.  The authorized capital was pegged at Rs 300 crore and paid up capital was Rs 100 crore. NPCI has ten promoter banks namely, State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Citibank and HSBC. Chairman : Shri Balachandran M  RBI sets up Supervisory Colleges for six Scheduled Commercial Banks which have sizeable international presence  State Bank of India, ICICI Bank Ltd., Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Axis Bank Ltd. and Punjab National Bank.  The objectives of the colleges are to enhance information exchange and cooperation among supervisors, to improve understanding of the risk profile of the banking group and thereby facilitate more effective supervision of internationally active banks

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BSE inks Cooperation Pact with Egyptian Exchange  BSE has joined hands with Egyptian Exchange (EGX) for cooperation in exchange of information across business areas.  The exchange aim is to cross list and trade securities and It would provide new investment alternatives to investors in both markets.  The MoU between BSE and EGX represents an important step in integrating both the exchanges to build capital market flows. Through this MoU a range of opportunities has been explored for the development of their businesses, products and markets to share knowledge and strengthen international connectivity Punjab National Bank ties up with Bajaj Allianz General for distribution. (BANCASSURANCE)  State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance have signed an agreement for the distribution of insurance products through the branches.  Under this agreement, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance will offer personal lines of insurance products such as health, personal accident, home, motor and travel along with commercial line of insurance products such as property, marine and engineering insurance, etc to the banks customers.  The bank has widespread network of around 7,000 branches. SIDBI starts merchant banking operations for MSMEs  Small Industries Development Bank of India said it has started full fledged merchant banking operations to help medium and small enterprises (MSMEs) tap capital markets for their funding requirements.  The initiative would enhance access of MSMEs to capital markets including SME trading platform and institutional trading platform.

Standard Chartered Bank launches Multicurrency Forex Card  Standard Chartered Bank has launched a 'Multicurrency Forex Card' that offers customers the convenience of loading up to 20 widely used currencies on one card.  The card comes with an online reload facility during overseas travel and is designed to offer travelers a secure way to carry money when travelling abroad.  Some of the currencies that can be loaded are the US dollar, Euro, British Pound, Singapore dollar, Swiss franc, Thai baht, Japanese Yen and South African rand Standard Chartered Bank Headquarters: London, United Kingdom CEO: Bill Winters Karnataka Bank launches “Met Loan & Life Suraksha”  Karnataka Bank in association with its life insurance partner M/s PNB MetLife, today, announced the launch of ‘Met Loan & Life Suraksha’ (MLLS), a single premium plan covering the loan liability of a customer.  In the year of celebrating 15 years of its partnership with M/s PNB MetLife, Bank also introduced ‘KBL MLLS’ app exclusively for the KBL employees to instantly calculate the insurance cover and premium based on loan liability of their borrowers.  The loan product and mobile app was unveiled by Mr. Mahabaleshwara M.S., Managing Director & CEO, Karnataka Bank BoB signs MoU with DGS&D for services to govt's e-marketplace.  Bank of Baroda has entered into an agreement with Directorate General of Supplies & Disposal (DGS&D) for extending various banking services to Government e-Marketplace (GeM).  DGS&D has been mandated to set up GeM, an initiative intended to bring greater transparency and efficiency in public procurements.  The relationship of the bank with GeM will immensely benefit all stakeholders and ensure a support system including a dedicated team for seamless functioning of the portal

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 The Cabinet had in April 2017 approved creation of GeM Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which will replace DGS&D, nodal purchase organisation of the central government.  The GeM SPV has been established as National Public Procurement Portal to provide an end-to- end online marketplace for central and state government departments, their public sector undertakings, autonomous institutions and local bodies, for procurement of common goods and services in a transparent and efficient manner.  The DGS&D shall be wound up and cease its functions by October this year. "In case it is not possible to wind up DGS&D by October 31, 2017, the department may extend the date of closure with proper justification latest up to March 31, 2018," SEBI inks pact with ESMA for information exchange on CCPs.  Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the European Securities and and Markets Authority (ESMA)  The MoU was signed for exchange of information concerning Central Counterparties (CCPs) under the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR). What is a 'Central Counterparty Clearing House - CCP'  A central counterparty clearing house (CCP) is an organization that exists in various European countries to help facilitate trading done in European derivatives and equities markets. These clearing houses are often operated by the major banks in the country to provide efficiency and stability to the financial markets in which they operate. CCPs bear most of the credit risk of buyers and sellers when clearing and settling market transactions. ICICI Bank offers up to Rs 15 lakh instant personal loan via ATMs for 60 months  These customers can get pre-qualified personal loans up to 15 lakhs in their savings account instantly. the facility offers a bouquet of features - swift application in simple steps, multiple  eligible loan amount options up to Rs.15 lakh based on pre-checked CIBIL scores and instant transfer of the money to the customer’s account. A Credit Score or the CIBIL Score is a three-digit numeric summary of your credit history. The score is derived using the credit history found in the CIR (Credit Information Report) A CIR is an individual’s credit payment history across loan types and credit institutions over a period of time. A CIR does not contain details of your savings, investments or fixed deposits ICRA, IIFCL launch rating system for infra projects.  A new system for rating of infrastructure projects has been launched by rating agency ICRA in association with the India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL).  The new system will focus on the overall recovery of dues by the investor/lender over the lifecycle of the project, besides retaining the valuable aspect of probability of default already adopted by the conventional rating scale. Rs 20 notes in Mahatma Gandhi 2005 series soon: RBI  The notes will be similar in design to those currently in circulation.  The new notes will be bearing inset letter ‘S’ in the number panel and signature of Governor Urjit R Patel. “Both the number panels will have inset letter S.  Moreover, the bank said that the design of these banknotes to be issued now is similar in all aspects to the Rs 20 banknotes in the same series issued earlier.  RBI clarified that all the banknotes in the denomination of Rs 20 issued by the Bank in the past will continue to be legal tender  According to the detailed press release, the design and security features of these banknotes to be issued now is similar to the Rs 20 banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi Series- 2005 issued earlier, except the following:- Obverse Ascending font  The numerals in both the number panels will be in ascending size from left to right while the first three alpha-numeric characters (prefix) will remain constant in size.

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Intaglio printing  The numeral “20”, RBI seal, Mahatma Gandhi’s portrait, RBI legend, Guarantee and promise clause, Governor’s signature, Ashoka Pillar emblem which were hitherto printed in intaglio (raised printing) are now being printed in offset (without any raised printing). Further, rectangular identification mark on the left of the banknote has been removed. Colour  While there is no change in the colour at the reverse, the colour at the obverse is lighter (due to removal of intaglio printing). Latent Image  The vertical band on the right side of the Mahatma Gandhi’s portrait hitherto contained a latent image showing the denominational numeral “20”.The latent image was visible only when the banknote was held horizontally at eye level. This feature is no longer present. Reverse  There is no change in the reverse of the banknote. SBI launches realty website 'SBI-Realty' to facilitate home buyers.  India's largest commercial bank SBI said it has launched a dedicated portal 'SBI Realty' that will help home buyers to choose flats from its 3,000 approved projects across the country.  State Bank of India has taken another step towards customers' convenience by launching 'SBI Realty' – a one stop integrated website www.sbirealty.in for home buyers  SBI Realty will help customers to choose their dream home from 3,000 SBI approved projects, which are spread across 13 states and Union Territories covering 30 cities.  At present, there are 9.5 lakh home units available on the website. Customers can compare current and past trends of prices for the properties in various localities in the city YES Bank gets $150 mn from OPIC to fund SME lending.  Private sector Yes Bank has received $ 150 million funding from the US government and Wells Fargo to increase lending to support women entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises in India.  This is the third round of funding to the bank as part of arrangement with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) --the US government development finance institution -- and Wells Fargo.  Under the agreement, OPIC will provide $ 75 million in financing and up to $ 75 million in syndicated financing jointly arranged by Wells Fargo Bank to Yes Bank $ 50 million of the financing would be used to expand support to women-owned businesses, while another equal amount will be used for financing SME business in low-income states.  Rana Kapoor, managing director and CEO, YES BANK  SMEs contribute about 45% of industrial output and employ 42 million people in the country. Chhattisgarh govt to merge DCCBs (district cooperative central banks ) with state cooperative bank.  It aimed to serve the farmers with better and efficient banking facilities.  After the decision, all DCCBs will be amalgamated into one state cooperative bank. It will enact a strong financial infrastructure and emerge as a effective bank.  Although all 264 branches of the DCCBs will continue to function in the state as same as earlier but from now on will give its services as a scheduled cooperative bank.  The decision will be benefit the farmers and the interest rates will come down by another 1.5 to 2 per cent on loans to them.  This will directly affect the state government’s interest subsidy, where it will be saving Rs 40-50 crore annually.  Besides, the farmers will be getting modernised bank facilities at the village level along with ATM and Micro ATM services.  They can carry out transaction from any branch in any part of the state and very soon mobile banking and Internet banking facilities will be added.

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 The working capital of the cooperative bank will cross over Rs 10,000 crore after the merger and the bank will have enough money for disbursement of agriculture loans YES BANK Launches 'YES GST' Program to Assist MSMEs.  YES BANK, India's fourth largest private sector bank, along with YES Global Institute has launched 'YES GST' program for MSMEs(Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) under its MSME CSR initiative, 'Say YES to Sustainable MSMEs in India'.  YES BANK is organizing more than 3,000 events on GST over the next 6 months in partnership with National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO) and Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), among others.  The bank will help MSMEs to understand the impact of the changes in tax system and prepare them to know the new GST tax system  http://www.Yesbank.In/yes-gst which will be easy-to  understand knowledge material of all GST related information.  YES BANK has set up a missed call no. (8080945075) for  MSMEs to address their queries on GST SBI waives charge on IMPS fund transfer of up to Rs 1,000.  Country’s largest bank SBI has waived charges for fund transfer of up to ₹1,000 through its IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) to promote small transactions.  IMPS is an instant interbank electronic fund transfer service through mobile phones as well as internet banking.  State Bank of India had been charging ₹5 along with the applicable service tax for IMPS fund transfer of up to ₹1,000  The charge will go up to ₹15 for transactions of ₹1-2 lakh.  GST at the rate of 18 per cent is applicable on all financial transactions. Axis Bank, IIC pact to boost trade with Latin America.  Axis Bank announced that it will help traders boost relations between India and Latin America and the Caribbean in a collaboration with Inter- American Investment Corporation.  It will facilitate trade with Latin America and the Caribbean in which Axis Bank will participate in the Trade Finance Facilitation Programme (TFFP) as a confirming bank.  Axis Bank said it is the first Indian Bank to be a part of such a facility.  The Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) will be acting on behalf of the Inter- American Development Bank (IDB) 36th Foundation Day of NABARD celebrated on July 11 2017  Self Help Group Bank Linkage Programme (SHG BLP), the pioneering initiative of Financial Inclusion by NABARD completed 25 years during this year  Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley was the Chief Guest  And is well poised to deliver the savings and credit services at the doorstep of rural poor especially women through their self-managed institutions called SHGs  Commemorating this occasion, NABARD has dedicated its 36th Foundation Day to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of SHG Bank Linkage Programme  Since its pilot stage in 1992, the SHG Programme has come a long way in covering more than 10 crore rural families.  As on 31st March, 2017 these groups had savings of more than Rs 16,000 crore in banks and double of that amount in their internal lending.  The Program had a catalytic effect in sourcing collateral free loans to the tune of Rs 61,000 crore to these poor women from the mainstream banking system at the normal rates of interest.  With more than 8.5 crore rural women as the direct participants in this mass movement, NABARD celebrated the Silver Jubilee of SHG BLP at Vigyan Bhavan in national capital.  The Self-Help Group-Bank Linkage Programme (SBLP), which started as a pilot programme in 1992 has developed with rapid strides over the years.  SHG-Bank Linkage Programme was started on the basis of recommendation of S K Kalia Committee. Plot-1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRP Square, Bhubaneswar-751015 Ph. : (0674) 6556677, 8093556677. Web : www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] 65 CURRENT AFFAIRS READY RECKONER FOR IBPS PO

FM launches a new tax payer service module Aaykar Setu  A new tax payer service module ‘Aaykar Setu’, was launched by the Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley.  This e-initiative would help in reducing physical interface between assesses and tax assessing authorities and thereby minimizing the chances of any tax harassment.  The new step is an effort by the Income Tax Department (ITD) to directly communicate with the taxpayers, on a range of multiple informative and useful tax services aimed at providing tax information at their fingertips.  The module compiles various tax tools, live chat facility, dynamic updates, and important links to various processes within the Income Tax Department in a single module.  The tax payers will also be able to receive regular updates regarding important tax dates, forms and notifications on mobile numbers registered with the ITD.  All taxpayers who wish to receive such SMS alerts are advised to register their mobile numbers in the Aaykar Setu module.  The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) constantly endeavours to provide better taxpayer services and reduce taxpayer grievances. New schemes and e-initiatives to educate the taxpayers and deliver tax payer services in an effective manner are key to this effort Govt launches next gold bond tranche on July 10, 2017  The bonds will be sold through banks, Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd (SHCIL), designated post offices, and the National Stock Exchange and the BSE.  The SGB (sovereign gold bond ) scheme was launched in November 2015 with an objective to reduce the demand for physical gold and shift a part of the domestic savings, used for purchase of gold, into financial savings.  The Government of India, in consultation with the RBI (Reserve Bank of India), has decided to issue sovereign gold bonds 2017-18 – Series II. The bonds were issued on 28 July 2017  Minimum investment in the bonds is one gram, with a maximum limit of subscription of 4kg grams per person per fiscal year  Earlier 500 grams per person per fiscal year  According to the statement, the investment limit per fiscal year has been increased to 4 kg for individuals, 4 kg for Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) and 20 kg for trusts and similar entities notified by the government from time to time. The government has so far issued eighth tranches of SGBs and mobilised Rs 5,400 crore till date.  As per the statement, the bonds with tenure of 8 years will be tradable on stock exchanges within a fortnight of the issuance on a date as notified by the RBI.  The investors will be compensated at a fixed rate of 2.50% per annum payable semi-annually on the nominal value.  India imports around 1,000 tonnes of gold every year, resulting in large-scale foreign exchange outflows.  Price of bond will be fixed in rupees on the basis of simple average of closing price of gold of 999 purity published by the India Bullion and Jewelers Association Ltd for the week (Monday to Friday) preceding the subscription period. Nepal SBI launches first paperless Banking services.  The State Bank of India (SBI) has launched its flagship service INTOUCH in Nepal  Nepal Rastra Bank Governor Chirinjibi Nepal, SBI Banks chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya and Indian Ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri, jointly inaugurated the new service in Nepal  It will offer customers products like Savings Bank, Saral Bachat Account and Combo Savings Account and the branch will have facilities like kiosks for account opening, debit card printing, and ATM.  Bhattacharya, along with its subsidiary, Nepal State Bank Ltd (NSBL) also inaugurated the NSBL Digital Village, Jaharsing Pauwa  It would be the first of its kind digital initiative in Nepal banking industry along with INTOUCH.

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 Under the Digital Village Initiative, the NSBL has adopted Jaharsing Pauwa village to provide financial literacy centres and other banking facilities to the 2,200 villagers.  The services to the 443 households would include an internet banking kiosk, free WiFi, POS utility at four merchant outlets, cash recycle machines.  The NSBL is among the fastest growing commercial banks in Nepal and enjoys a lead position in terms of penetration of technology products.  NSBL is a JV between SBI and the Employees Provident Fund, Nepal, MobiKwik, Samsung Pay to enable one-tap payment solution for e-wallet users.  As part of the tie-up, MobiKwik wallet is now integrated with Samsung Pay Mini to enable one- tap payments at more than 1.4 million MobiKwik powered merchants across the country.  MobiKwik's mobile wallet will also be available soon to Samsung Pay users. There has been a massive growth in number of transactions using digital platforms in the country, especially after the government's move to scrap high-denomination notes in November.  Samsung Pay, the mobile payments service of the world's largest handset maker, was launched in India in March this year.  It allows users to just tap and pay using the debit/credit cards and wallets stored on their mobile devices. Currently, Samsung Pay is available for users of devices like Samsung S8, Samsung S7 Edge, S7, J7 Max and J7 Pro among others.  Samsung had unveiled a 'Mini' version of the platform that integrates UPI and mobile wallets to work on mid-range priced smartphones. It, however, does not support tap-and-pay using credit and debit cards like the main app. CEO Mobikwik : Bipin Preet Singh India to join new Global foreign exchange committee.  India will soon get a seat on the Global Foreign Exchange Committee (GFXC), a newly-constituted forum of central bankers and experts working towards promotion of a robust and transparent forex market.  The committee has been set up under the guidance of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), an international financial organisation owned by 60 member central banks, representing countries from around the world.  The GFXC was established in London during a meeting in May 2017 of public and private sector representatives from the foreign exchange committees (FXCs) of 16 international forex trading centres.  The newly expanded and formalised GFXC, replaces a similar but more informal organisation of eight FXCs from Australia, Euro area, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, UK and US.  It will now also include representatives from existing, or soon to be established FXCs or similar structures in China, India, Brazil, Korea, Mexico, South Africa, Sweden and Switzerland. The objectives GFXC.  Promote collaboration and communication among the local FXCs and non-GFXC jurisdictions  with significant FX markets... Exchange views on trends and developments in global FX markets, including on the structure and functioning of those markets, drawing on information gathered at the various FXCs.  Promote, maintain and update on a regular basis the FX Global Code (the Code) and consider good practices regarding effective mechanisms to support adherence.  It will also maintain and update ‘Global Code of Conduct for the Foreign Exchange Markets’ issued by Bank for International Settlements (BIS). HQ BIS - Basel, Switzerland General manager - Jaime Caruana RBI considering setting up Public Credit Registry in India  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may consider setting up a Public Credit Registry (PCR), which will be an extensive database of credit information for India that is accessible to all stakeholders.  RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya highlighted the need to set up a public credit registry while delivering the theme talk at the 11th Statistics Day Conference. Plot-1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRP Square, Bhubaneswar-751015 Ph. : (0674) 6556677, 8093556677. Web : www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] 67 CURRENT AFFAIRS READY RECKONER FOR IBPS PO

 Reserve Bank celebrated its ‘11th Annual Statistics Day Conference’ on July 04, 2017 on the Theme ‘New Frontiers on Statistical Methods and Information Base for Central Banks’.  According to the World Bank Doing Business Project, "Public credit registry coverage reports the number of individuals and firms listed in a public credit registry with current information on repayment history, unpaid debts, or credit outstanding. The number is expressed as a percentage of the adult population."  They tend to be different from Credit Information bureau which tends to cater to the information requirements of commercial lenders and is privately owned.  While a public credit registry data are geared towards use by policymakers, regulators, and other officials and are generally owned by a central bank of a country.  Public Credit Registry is managed by a public authority like the central bank or the banking supervisor, and reporting of loan details to the registry by lenders and/or borrowers is mandated by law.  Acharya mentioned that public credit registry will help RBI in effectively monitoring delinquencies in credit market and intervene at an early phase. It will bring in efficiency in the credit market by helping the lenders in appraisals and monitoring of the loan portfolio.  The registry will also help the cause of financial inclusion of the small businesses and individuals by allowing them to establish their reputation via the registry. Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance ties up with Dhanlaxmi Bank for marketing bancassurance.  Private life insurance company Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance, has entered into an alliance with Dhanlaxmi Bank.  All the life insurance products of Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance would be made available to customers of Dhanlaxmi Bank and would be sold by the licensed staff of the bank.  Anuj Mathur, chief executive officer, Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company Limited said the bancassurance products have been showing good growth, particularly the traditional products.  "We are a pure bancassurance company and our growth rate was 40% last year. For the first quarter in the current fiscal, the growth has been 50%,’’ he said.  Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance has access to around 115 million customers and a pan-India network of over 9500 branches of the three shareholder banks  Dhanlaxmi Bank has a network of 260 branches and 371 ATMs covering 129 cities across India in 15 states and 1 union territory and a customer base of over 2 million. As part of the agreement, the bank will be a corporate agent for 3 years HQ Dhanlaxmi Bank : Thrissur, Kerala CEO Dhanlaxmi Bank : G. Sreeram RBI allows NBFCs to offer new pension scheme.  The Reserve Bank of India has allowed systematically important non banking finance companies to sell and market the new pension scheme (NPS).  NBFCs with asset size of Rs 500 crore and above that have made a net profit in the preceding financial year be permitted to sell NPS to their clients after registration with the pension regulator.  The New Pension Scheme was initiated by the government in 2009, giving people a route to avail a pension after they are retired or as a senior citizen.  Government employees already enjoy pension, and this new scheme was introduced to enable the people from unorganised sectors to enjoy the benefits of pension.  A contribution of a certain amount is made every month during the years when an individual is actively working.  This amount is invested as per the individual’s preference.  The money can then be withdrawn at a minimum age of 60 years.

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 There are a couple of options for investment to choose from based on the individual’s preference of asset allocation and withdrawal. Eligibility Criteria for New Pension Scheme  The applicant for the scheme should be an Indian citizen  The applicant should be a minimum of 18 years of age  The applicant should be a maximum of 60 years of age  The minimum contribution to be paid is Rs. 500  The contribution has to be made at least once per year.  The minimum annual contribution should be Rs. 6,000  The maximum contribution to the scheme should not exceed Rs. 12,000 per annum RBI notifies norms to limit liability of consumers hit by transaction fraud  In a major step to protect customers from large financial losses on account of frauds, Reserve Bank of India has capped the customer liability at Rs 25,000 if they report unauthorised transactions within seven working days.  In cases of zero and limited liability of the customer "on being notified by the customer, the bank shall credit the amount involved in the unauthorised electronic transaction to the customer's account within 10 working days from the date of such notification by the customer (without waiting for settlement of insurance claim, if any.  RBI also said that banks need to ask their customers to mandatorily register for SMS alerts and e- mail alerts for electronic banking transactions.  Banks shall ensure that the resolution of a customer complaint does not exceed 90 days from the date of receipt of the complaint, and the customer is compensated as per provisions.  In case of debit card/bank account, the customer does not suffer loss of interest, and in case of credit card, the customer does not bear any additional burden of interest  "If the delay in reporting is beyond seven working days, the customer liability shall be determined as per the bank's Board approved policy. Zero Liability of a Customer:  A customer's entitlement to zero liability shall arise where the unauthorised transaction occurs due to negligence/deficiency on the part of the bank (irrespective of whether or not the transaction is reported by the customer).  Third party breach where the deficiency lies neither with the bank nor with the customer but lies elsewhere in the system, and the customer notifies the bank within three working days of receiving the communication from the bank regarding the unauthorised Transaction  There will be a limited liability in cases where the responsibility for the unauthorised electronic banking transaction lies neither with the bank nor with the customer, but lies elsewhere in the system and when there is a delay —of four to seven working days after receiving the communication from the bank —on the part of the customer in notifying the bank of such a transaction.  The per transaction liability of the customer will be limited to the transaction value or the amount mentioned by the RBI , whichever is lower. The liability will be Rs 5,000 for BSBD and SB accounts and pre-paid payment instruments and gift cards and for current/ cash credit/ overdraft accounts of MSMEs.  The liability will be Rs 10,000 for current accounts/ cash credit/ overdraft accounts of individuals with annual average balance (during 365 days preceding the incidence of fraud)/ limit up to Rs 25 lakh and credit cards with limit up to Rs 5 lakh.  The liability will be Rs 25,000 for all other current/ cash credit/ overdraft accounts and credit cards with limit above Rs 5 lakh. India to be base to economic pole of global growth - Harvard study.  India will be the base to the economic pole of global growth over the coming decade, remaining ahead of China, according to a report presented by researchers at Centre for International Development (CID) at Harvard University  The study also warns of a continued slowdown in global growth over the coming decade. Plot-1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRP Square, Bhubaneswar-751015 Ph. : (0674) 6556677, 8093556677. Web : www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] 69 CURRENT AFFAIRS READY RECKONER FOR IBPS PO

 India and Uganda top the list of the fastest growing economies to 2025, at 7.7 per cent annually. Decline in China’s exports  The new data reveals a decline in China’s exports.  China’s economic complexity ranking also falls four spots for the first time since the global financial crisis  The growth projections still have China growing above the world average, though at 4.4 per cent annually for the coming decade, the slowdown relative to the current growth trend is significant New capabilities  “The major oil economies are experiencing the pitfalls of their reliance on one resource.  India, Indonesia, and Vietnam have accumulated new capabilities that allow for more diverse and more complex production that predicts faster growth in the coming years,” said Ricardo Hausmann, director of CID, professor at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), and the lead researcher of The Atlas of Economic Complexity.  Uganda joins three other East African countries in the top 10 fastest growing countries, though a significant fraction of that growth is due to rapid population growth.  On a per capita basis, Uganda is the only East- African country that remains in the top 10 in the growth projections, though at 4.5 per cent annually its prospects are more modest.

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OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS

1. Ministry of Rural Development has cleared 221 proposals of roads and bridges amounting to Rs 782.24 crore under PMGSY for which state? A) Uttarakhand B) Sikkim C) Himachal Pradesh D) Jharkhand 2. Centre has approved the combined development of phase II and III of Harohalli industrial zone in Karnataka at an investment of? A) Rs 1,755 crore B) Rs 1,292 crore C) Rs 2,138 crore D) Rs 1,561 crore 3. Promotion campaign for Mudra Yojana on PAN India level was recently launched from? A) Hyderabad B) Delhi C) Gandhinagar D) Varanasi 4. In a first, FIFA has selected 7 support female referees for which men's tournament? A) FIFA World Cup 2018 B) FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 C) FIFA U-20 World Cup 2017 D) FIFA Club World Cup 2017 5. ADB has approved a loan of how much amount for the modernisation of Himachal Pradesh’s technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions? A) $150 million B) $50 million C) $80 million D) $120 million 6. Which of the following will host the eighth annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad with the theme "Women First, Prosperity for All"? A) Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship B) NITI Aayog C) ASSOCHAM D) FICCI 7. Government has extended the deadline for selling the unsold pre-GST stock with their revised MRP till? A) Dec 2018 B) Dec 2017 C) Mar 2018 D) June 2018 8. Who has become the first non-white to head a major political party in Canada? A) Jasmeet Singh B) Gurdeep Singh C) Ravinder Kumar D) Jagmeet Singh 9. Which nation has begun collecting new “sin” taxes on tobacco products, energy drinks and soft drinks? A) Kuwait B) Qatar C) Saudi Arabia D) UAE 10. A high-level meeting on Railways Safety was recently conducted, under the chair of Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, in? A) New Delhi B) Chennai C) Mumbai D) Bengaluru 11. Who has been appointed as the brand ambassador of the Swachh Andhra Mission launched by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu? A) Prabhas B) Shriya Saran C) PV Sindhu D) Anushka Shetty 12. With respect to the fourth bi-monthly monetary policy review, the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) has been cut by 50 basis points to? A) 19% B) 20.5% C) 20% D) 19.5% 13. Which team won the 2017 Enactus World Cup held in London? A) US B) Canada C) England D) India 14. Who is the Indian coach, who has been suspended by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI)? A) Kripa Shanker Patel B) Maha Singh Rao C) Asit Kumar Saha D) Udey Chand 15. Recently launched 'ARPAN Version 3.0', is a software related to? A) Agriculture B) Defence C) Women Safety D) Skill Development 16. Which state's Chief Minister has launched 'Single Click Pension Delivery' scheme? A) Gujarat B) Madhya Pradesh C) Rajasthan D) Maharashtra 17. China has opened a 409-kilometre-long expressway linking Tibet's Lhasa with Nyingchi, which is close to the border with India in? A) Jammu & Kashmir B) Sikkim C) Arunachal Pradesh D) Uttarakhand 18. Who has won his sixth straight title at National Motorcycle Racing Championship? A) Rajiv Sethu B) Mathana Kumar C) Jagan Kumar D) Anish Shetty 19. In a first, how many Indian shuttlers have been listed in the top-20 of the BWF men's singles rankings? A) 6 B) 5 C) 4 D) 3

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20. Which F1 racer won the Malaysian Grand Prix 2017? A) Lewis Hamilton B) Sebastian Vettel C) Max Verstappen D) Daniel Ricciardo 21. Who has become the first Indian woman to climb Mount Manaslu, the eighth highest mountain peak in the world? A) Aparna Kumar B) Smriti Nagpa l C) Latika Gupta D) Anita Gava 22. Who has been elected as chairman of Ethics Commission as well as of Anti-Disciplinary Commission of International Weightlifting Federation (IWF)? A) Anup Pujari B) Birendra Prasad Baishya C) Saurabh Chandra D) Vijay Chhibber 23. Who has been appointed as the non-official director on the board of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation? A) Shazia Ilmi B) Sambit Patra C) Gaurav Bhatia D) Nupur Sharma 24. Which of the following countries have agreed to cooperate to build the first lunar space station? 1. Russia 2. China 3. India 4. US A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4 25. Which Indian University conferred an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters on Emir of Sharjah Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi? A) University of Kerala B) University of Calicut C) Cochin University of Science and Technology D) Mahatma Gandhi University 26. SEBI has allowed Sovereign wealth funds and other long term foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to buy corporate debt in infrastructure sector up to? A) Rs 9,500 crore B) Rs 5,500 crore C) Rs 12,500 crore D) Rs 7,500 crore 27. Which state government has put in force 'No helmet, no petrol' rule for two-wheeler riders? A) Gujarat B) Rajasthan C) Andhra Pradesh D) Tamilnadu 28. Who has received a National Tourism Award in the `Best Tourist Guide' category by the President Ram Nath Kovind? A) Sanjay Singh B) Arvind Mayaram C) Rama Khandwala D) Prem Narain 29. Which bank has waived off closing charges for savings account holders which are at least 1 year old? A) Syndicate Bank B) State Bank of India C) Federal Bank D) ICICI Bank 30. Benghazi port, which opened after a period of 3 years, is located in which country? A) Tunisia B) Algeria C) Saudi Arabia D) Libya 31. Three U.S. scientists have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work on gravitational waves. Which of the following is not one of them? A) Rainer Weiss B) Jay Hannigan C) Kip Thorne D) Barry Barish 32. An underground water treatment plant was recently inaugurated in which state? A) Tripura B) Nagaland C) Mizoram D) Assam 33. India has opened two immigration checkposts - Zorinpui to Myanmar and Kawrpuichhuah to Bangladesh, in which Indian state? A) Mizoram B) Tripura C) Nagaland D) Manipur 34. Which Indian city has been ranked world’s most affordable technology hub as per a survey by a realty consultancy firm Knight Frank? A) Hyderabad B) Gurugram C) Chennai D) Bengaluru 35. Radhika Mohan Bhagawati, who recently passed away, was a veteran? A) Journalist B) Jurist C) Politician D) Activist 36. What is the name of the Facebook citizen group which was conferred Swacchhata award by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs? A) My Delhi Keep It Clean B) Swachh Bharat Sundar Bharat C) iACT Citizens Group D) Clean Your Home 37. Who has been appointed to head the five-member OBC sub-categorization committee by President Ram Nath Kovind? A) G Rohini B) Nita Chowdhury C) Anita Agnihotri D) Gauri Kumar

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38. What is the name of the world’s first blockchain technology-based smartphone recently unveiled by Gurugram-based VVDN, in partnership with Ireland’s Embedded Download? A) EmbVault B) BPhone C) VVPhone D) BitVault 39. What is GIFT-IFSC's rank in the September 2017 edition of Global Financial Centres Index 22 (GFCI) — London? A) 10th B) 6th C) 15th D) 21st 40. 9 day long mountain biking race was recently flagged off in Himachal Pradesh by? A) Virbhadra Singh B) Anurag Thakur C) Acharya Dev Vrat D) N Venkaiah Naidu 41. Which country has opened its biggest overseas military base in Mogadishu? A) Turkey B) China C) Russia D) US 42. Which bank has announced to buyback shares worth over Rs 99 crore in its primary dealership subsidiary company? A) Punjab National Bank B) Bank od Baroda C) State Bank of India D) United Bank of India 43. What was the 2017 theme of "International Day of Older Persons" observed on Oct 1? A) Take A Stand Against Ageism B) Sustainability and Age Inclusiveness in the Urban Environment C) Leaving No One Behind: Promoting a Society for All D) Stepping into the Future: Tapping the Talents, 44. Contributions and Participation of Older Persons in Society Which nation recently celebrated its 68th national day from Oct 1st to Oct 3rd? A) Bhutan B) Sri Lanka C) Japan D) China 45. World Vegetarian Day was celebrated on which day? A) Oct 2 B) Oct 1 C) Oct 4 D) Oct 3 46. As per Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, how many more states have reached the milestone of making all cities and towns 'Open Defecation Free'? A) 3 B) 5 C) 7 D) 2 47. Who has bagged the International Business Person of the Year at the Asian Achievers Awards held in London? A) Sanjay Kothari B) Upendra Tripathy C) Afzal Amanullah D) Birendra Sasmal 48. International Cricket Council has recently announced the implementation of new playing conditions across all formats of international cricket. Who is the chief executive of ICC? A) Haroon Lorgat B) Malcolm Speed C) David Richardson D) Shashank Manohar 49. As per the Sample Registration System (SRS) bulletin released by the Office of the Registrar General, India's IMR declined to how much per 1,000 live births in 2016? A) 21 B) 26 C) 39 D) 34 50. Which country has recently put into effect a law that bans burqa? A) US B) Austria C) Russia D) Germany 51. Ship MT New Prosperity carrying first shipment of US crude oil, reached which port of India? A) Kandla Port B) Haldia Port C) Chennai Port D) Paradip Port 52. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently inaugurated a bridge on which river between Durbuk and Daulat Beg Oldi in Leh Ladakh? A) Ravi B) Zanskar C) Shyok D) Chenab 53. What is the name of the Official Match Ball unveiled by Adidas for the 2017 FIFA Under 17 World Cup to be held in India? A) Brazuca B) Krasava C) Fevernova D) Tricolore 54. Which company has completed the acquisition of a 49 per cent stake in Italy's AQA Holding? A) Oman Air B) Gulf Air C) Etihad D) Qatar Airways 55. Who inaugurated the first-ever exhibition highlighting the achievements of ISRO in Surat? A) A. S. Kiran Kumar B) Dr Jitendra Singh C) Vijay Rupani D) Dr Harsh Vardhan

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56. Which company has bagged the official $100- million contract to create the technology and platform to nab tax evaders, using social media? A) L&T Infotech B) Tech Mahindra C) Infosys D) Wipro 57. Eman Al-Ghamidi has become the first woman to be appointed to a top government post in which nation? A) Saudi Arabia B) Qatar C) Kuwait D) Oman 58. Who unveiled a 1.8 metre statue of Mahatama Gandhi, the first to be installed at Rajghat? A) M.Venkaiah Naidu B) Narendra Modi C) Ram Nath Kovind D) Amit Shah 59. India and Norway have recently extended bilateral cooperation in the field of? A) Health B) Space C) Sports D) Education 60. Which company has won a government contract for supplying 10,000 electric cars for the Rs 1,120 crore order? A) Tata Motors B) Nissan C) Mahindra & Mahindra D) Tesla 61. Government has changed the interest rates on small savings schemes, for October-December quarter, by? A) + 0.2% B) + 0.6% C) 0% D) - 0.5% 62. Union environment ministry recently notified the new Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules 2017 to replace the 2010 version. How many wetlands have been officially identified by the central government? A) 115 B) 95 C) 125 D) 150 63. Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi inaugurated the third annual 'Women of India Organic Festival' at? A) Amravati B) Indore C) Lucknow D) New Delhi 64. Who has been appointed chairman of Russian state-controlled oil producer Rosneft? A) Horst Seehofer B) Joschka Fischer C) Gerhard Schröder D) Volker Beck 65. Reliance Communications recently called off its merger with which company? A) Aircel B) Telenor C) Idea D) Tata Tele 66. India is going to undertake a joint tiger census with which country? A) Indonesia B) Russia C) Nepal D) Malaysia 67. In a first, which company has raised $300 million via 'Green Masala Bonds' at the London Stock Exchange's (LSE) new International Securities Market (ISM)? A) RECL B) PFCL C) MMTC D) IREDA 68. Which of the following has been adjudged best ‘Swachh Iconic Place’ in India among 10 iconic places selected under the Swachh Bharath Mission? A) Golden Temple B) Ajmer Sharif Dargah C) Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple D) Sri Vaishno Devi temple 69. International Day of Non-Violence is celebrated every year on? A) Oct 1 B) Oct 3 C) Oct 2 D) Oct 4 70. Scientists from which countries have conducted the first quantum unhackable video call? A) China & Austria B) Austria & Germany C) Germany & Switzerland D) Switzerland & China 71. Which of the following banks have been penalised by US for rigging foreign exchange (FX) rates? 1. Wells Fargo 2. JP Morgan 3. HSBC 4. Deutsch Bank A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 4 & 1 72. Sebi along with regulators from other countries is participating in world investor week launched by the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). The event began with the bell-ringing ceremony at? A) London Stock Exchange B) Tokyo Stock Exchange C) New York Stock Exchange D) Bombay Stock Exchange 73. Investments in the domestic capital market through participatory notes (P-notes) slumped to a five year low of? A) Rs 1.75 trillion B) Rs 1.25 trillion C) Rs 0.5 trillion D) Rs 2.5 trillion

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74. When was World Habitat Day observed with the 2017 theme "Housing Policies: Affordable Homes"? A) First Wednesday of October B) First Monday of October C) First Tuesday of October D) First Sunday of October 75. Hanumant Moreshwar Marathe, who recently passed away, was a veteran? A) Writer B) Politician C) Painter D) Social Activist 76. Which state's chief minister launched a State-wide campaign to abolish child marriage and dowry? A) Madhya Pradesh B) Bihar C) Maharashtra D) Uttar Pradesh 77. Which of the following organizations is organizing a countrywide Free Eye Check-up Campaign and distribution of spectacles from Oct 2nd-Oct 6th? A) DIPP B) DGCA C) NHAI D) FCI 78. Environment minister Dr Harsh Vardhan recently unveiled the 3rd National Wildlife Action Plan for 2017-2031. The plan was drafted by a committee chaired by? A) NK Sheshadri B) MR Venkatesh C) Vineet Chandok D) JC Kala 79. Team Europe recently won the 2017 Laver Cup held in Prague. It is associated with which sport? A) Tennis B) Football C) Basketball D) Hockey 80. Fenesta National Tennis Championships recently began in? A) Kolkata B) New Delhi C) Bengaluru D) Hyderabad 81. Which country has floated out the world’s largest nuclear-powered icebreaker ship, named 'Sibir'? A) China B) US C) Russia D) Japan 82. Eighth Conference of the Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians was held at? A) Naypyidaw B) Dhaka C) New Delhi D) Colombo 83. Which automobile company announced an exclusive right to provide transportation at the FIFA U17 World Cup Tournament? A) Hyundai India B) Maruti Suzuki C) Tata Motors D) Mahindra & Mahindra 84. Which country is going to be the honourary guest at the World Government Summit being hosted by UAE? A) Saudi Arabia B) India C) Germany D) Russia 85. Who has been appointed as the 25th chairman of State Bank of India to replace Arundhati Bhattacharya? A) Vinod Chaddha B) Amrish Gupta C) Rajnish Kumar D) Sumeet Chatwal 86. At which position did Viswanathan Anand sign off at the Isle Of Man Chess Championship in Douglas? A) 5th B) 4th C) 3rd D) 2nd 87. Which country jointly hosted the Global Wildlife Programme (GWP) with World Bank and United Nations Development Programme recently? A) India B) Brazil C) US D) Indonesia 88. Brenda Hale, has been appointed as the first female president of the Supreme Court of? A) Netherlands B) UK C) Canada D) US 89. Which country has announced to launch a new space agency? A) Israel B) Switzerland C) Australia D) Germany 90. Union Cabinet recently gave its approval for MoU with which country for upgradation of the Women’s Police Training Centre at Yamethin? A) Bhutan B) Sri Lanka C) Myanmar D) Cambodia 91. Who has been posthumously accorded with the prestigious Anna Politkovskaya Award? A) Gauri Lankesh B) Rajdev Ranjan C) Karun Misra D) MVN Shankar 92. Kundan Shah, who recently passed away, was a famous? A) Choreographer B) Writer C) Actor D) Director 93. First Meeting of India-Australia Joint Steering Committee was recently held at? A) Mumbai B) Canberra C) New Delhi D) Sydney

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94. Which country's National Communications Authority has given its approval for merger of TIGO with Airtel? A) Nigeria B) Uganda C) Kenya D) Ghana 95. Which of the following companies has been awarded the Golden Peacock Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance? A) Emiza Services B) Proconnect C) TAKE Solutions D) Bristlecone India 96. An international team of scientists has recently developed a low-cost instant test for? 1. Zika 2. Malaria 3. Chikanguniya 4. Dengue A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4 97. What is the name of the new test that can predict the likelihood of a cancer relapse, as per a study published in the journal Clinical Oncology? A) Oncotype DX B) Oncosyn DX C) Oncotic DX D) Oncology DX 98. Which of the following has launched the One Planet Academy (OPA), an environment education portal for students and teachers? A) WWF-India B) Conservation International C) TERI D) CSE India 99. UN recently ended its 13 years long peacekeeping mission "MINUSTAH" in which country? A) Haiti B) Lebanon C) Sudan D) Cyprus 100. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan inaugurated first community toilet for the exclusive use of transgenders at? A) Gwalior B) Jabalpur C) Indore D) Bhopal 101. Which state government has approved the 'Mukhyamantri Samoohik Vivaah Yojana', a mass marriage scheme, wherein Rs 35,000 will be spent on each couple? A) Uttarakhand B) Haryana C) Rajasthan D) Uttar Pradesh 102. Bi-annual talks were recently held between the chiefs of the border guarding forces of India and? A) China B) Bangladesh C) Myanmar D) Nepal 103. RBI has constituted a High-level Task Force on Public Credit Registry (PCR) for India under the chairmanship of? A) Anil Goswami B) Siraj Hussian C) R. Bhattacharya D) Y M Deosthalee 104. Which state has topped the statistics released by the Home Ministry of number of active gun licences, with 12.77 lakh people authorised to carry weapons? A) Uttar Pradesh B) Madhya Pradesh C) Bihar D) Haryana 105. Which state/UT's Governor or Lieutenant Governor recently approved the government's students higher education loan scheme? A) Odisha B) Puducherry C) Goa D) Delhi 106. Which company has launched its new campaign, called #HereToCreate, to inspire young football talent in India? A) Reebok B) Nike C) Adidas D) Puma 107. Maharashtra government has joined hands with which of the following to roll out a series of social development initiatives in Chandrapur district? A) Infosys Foundation B) Wipro Sustainability C) Tata Trusts D) TCS Foundation 108. Who won the women’s all-around title at world championships in Montreal? A) Morgan Hurd B) Simone Biles C) Dipa Karmakar D) Ellie Black 109. Which state government recently launched Mathru Poorna scheme? A) Telangana B) Kerala C) Karnataka D) Tamilnadu 110. Who bagged India's maiden gold medal at the World Wushu Championships being held at Kazan, Russia? A) Pooja Kadian B) Kavery Banerjee C) Meenal Jain D) Piyali Mehta 111. Who has been named as the event ambassador of the under-19 World Cup 2018? A) Corey Anderson B) Virat Kohli C) MS Dhoni D) Steve Smith 112. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is going to set up a research centre for start ups, academicians, environmentalists and entrepreneurs at? A) Raipur B) Indore C) Guwahati D) Coimbatore

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113. Which country has appointed Vice-Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi as new Chief of Naval Staff? A) Pakistan B) Sri Lanka C) Bangladesh D) Malaysia 114. Government has undertaken a Mass Embryo Transfer programme in Indigenous Breeds under the scheme, National Mission on Bovine Productivity. How many embryos will be transferred during the 9 day programme? A) 250 B) 440 C) 360 D) 580 115. Who has been appointed as the deputy director general of World Health Organisation (WHO)? A) Dr. Abraham Verghese B) Dr. Soumya Swaminathan C) Dr. Deepak Chopra D) Dr. Naresh Trehan 116. Union Cabinet was recently apprised of the MoU with Switzerland on cooperation in the field of? A) Agriculture B) Railways C) Peaceful use of space D) Youth Affairs 117. Purushottam Lal Kaushik, who recently passed away, was related to which field? A) Law B) Journalism C) Politics D) Medicine 118. Who has been named the new prime minister of Mongolia? A) Nambaryn Enkhbayar B) Jargaltulgiin Erdenebat C) Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat D) Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh 119. Fitch Ratings has trimmed its forecast for India’s economic growth in 2017-18 from 7.4% to? A) 6.6% B) 6.7% C) 7.2% D) 6.9% 120. What is the name of the 20-day programme launched by Ministry of Tourism? A) Paryatan Parv B) Tourism Fair C) Paribhraman Abhiyan D) Tourism Carnival 121. October 4 -10 is observed every year as? A) World Health Week B) World Space Week C) World Arts Week D) World Sports Week 122. Which of the following has launched the app for project management information system (PMIS) to track the progress of more than 3,000 projects online? A) NIAL B) NHAI C) CPWD D) NPCC 123. Pooja Kapur has been concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to? A) Greece B) Albania C) Montenegro D) Macedonia 124. Which state government has signed an MoU with Mastercard to setup a centre of excellence and enable safe and secure digital solutions to be adopted at the state level? A) Tamilnadu B) Maharashtra C) Andhra Pradesh D) Gujarat 125. What is the name of the 6-year project launched by Union environment ministry and UNDP for protection of Himalayan ecosystem? A) SAVE Himalaya B) PROTECT Himalaya C) SECURE Himalaya D) PRESERVE Himalaya 126. India and Bangladesh have signed the third line of credit (LoC) agreement of? A) $4.5 billion B) $5.5 billion C) $2.5 billion D) $3.5 billion 127. Government has constituted a high-level committee for proper management of water resources in the northeastern states. It will be led by? A) Amitabh Kant B) Rajiv Kumar C) Arjun Ram Meghwal D) Dr. Satya Pal Singh 128. Three states recently signed an MoU to boost cultural ties under the 'Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat' programme. Which of the following is not one of them? A) Arunachal Pradesh B) Meghalaya C) Uttar Pradesh D) Odisha 129. First ever ASEAN-India Music Festival, organized by MEA, Ministry of Culture and Seher, was recently held at? A) Chennai B) Delhi C) Kolkata D) Hyderabad 130. Which state government is creating a 1.2 lakh acre land bank across the state for allocation to the industrial sector? A) Odisha B) Goa C) Bihar D) Chhattisgarh 131. Which company has announced its partnership with IRCTC Rail connect app? A) Mobikwik B) Citrus Pay C) Oxigen D) PayUMoney 132. What was the 2017 theme of World Teachers’ Day celebrated on Oct 5th? A) Empowering teachers, Building sustainable societies

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B) Valuing Teachers, Improving their Status C) Teaching in Freedom, Empowering Teachers D) A Call for teachers! 133. Who has become the first Indian ever to win a European racing championship, by winning Boss GPheld at Imola, Italy? A) Ameya Vaidyanathan B) Mahaveer Raghunathan C) Jehan Daruvala D) Arjun Maini 134. Which of the following has announced two strategic investments for the Indian market - Aadhaar- based authentication in its e-signature solution and a local data centre? A) Adobe B) Microsoft C) Foxit D) DocuSign 135. John Hastings, who recently announced his retirement from One Day and Test format of cricket, is a fast bowler from? A) England B) New Zealand C) South Africa D) Australia 136. Three scientists have won the 2017 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for developing cryo-electron microscopy. Which of the following is not one of them? A) Richard HendersonB) Jacques Dubochet C) Gabriel Rafferty D) Joachim Frank 137. NABARD has recently sanctioned a loan of how much amount to the Andhra Pradesh Government under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) for Rural Water supply, Road and Bridge projects? A) Rs 352 crore B) Rs 428 crore C) Rs 273 crore D) Rs 137 crore 138. Which state has become the first to set up an Industrial Training Institute (ITI) exclusively for the differently-abled? A) Punjab B) Assam C) Telangana D) Kerala 139. Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu laid foundation stone for Inland Waterway project in? A) Odisha B) Gujarat C) Andhra Pradesh D) Jharkhand 140. Central Water Commission (CWC) has signed MoUs with which of the following institutes to support capacity building in dam safety under Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP)? 1. IIT Roorkee 2. Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad 3. IIT Kanpur 4. IIT Kharagpur A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4 141. itelligence India Software Solutions has acquired which SAP software reseller and services provider? A) vCentric Technologies B) Clematis Technology Solutions C) Hiperio D) SemanticSpace Technologies 142. Which company has launched Neo — a servicing bot for Twitter? A) Kotak Life Insurance B) SBI Life Insurance C) ICICI Prudential Life Insurance D) HDFC Life Insurance 143. Which mobile wallet company has relaunched its payment gateway Zaakpay? A) PayUMoney B) Oxigen C) Paytm D) MobiKwik 144. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will lead a high-powered ministerial delegation to the ASEANIndia 'Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas 2018' which will be held in? A) Vietnam B) Singapore C) Cambodia D) Thailand 145. A 3-day international medical conference 'IMTechCon 2017' was recently held at? A) Mumbai B) Chandigarh C) Hyderabad D) New Delhi 146. ONGC Videsh has announced to have completed the acquisition of 30% stake from UK's Tullow Oil in an oilblock in? A) Angola B) Cameroon C) Namibia D) Tanzania 147. BBC World Service has begun broadcasting in how many new Indian languages? A) 2 B) 4 C) 6 D) 8 148. Which state's cabinet approved the 'Mukhya Mantri Rural Road Repair Scheme' under MGNREGA? A) Punjab B) Uttar Pradesh C) Himachal Pradesh D) Uttarakhand

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149. European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide €500 million support which metro project in India? A) Kochi Metro B) Bangalore Metro C) Mumbai Metro D) Lucknow Metro 150. Union Cabinet has given its approval for the signing and ratification of the Extradition Treaty between India and? A) Lithuania B) Estonia C) Latvia D) Finland 151. A temple with a 100 ft tall statue of PM Narendra Modi is going to be built in? A) Meerut B) Vadnagar C) Jhansi D) Varanasi 152. Azerbaijan has extended the oil production contract with ONGC Videsh, BP, Chevron and other consortium partners until? A) 2021 B) 2049 C) 2055 D) 2030 153. Jacqueline Fernandez has been named as the brand ambassador of which club for the upcoming season of the Indian Super League (ISL)? A) Mumbai City FC B) Delhi Dynamos FC C) Kerala Blasters FC D) NorthEast United FC 154. Reserve Bank of India has recently opened its branch at? A) Kangra B) Udaipur C) Dehradun D) Jabalpur 155. Centre has approved setting up a new centre to conserve turtles at? A) Mirzapur B) Ghazipur C) Kanpur D) Allahabad 156. Andaman and Nicobar administration has operationalised an alternate sea route from Port Blair to which island? A) Barren Island B) Rutland Island C) Baratang Island D) South Sentinel Island 157. European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has recognized the clearing arm of which Indian exchange as a Third-Country Central Counterparty (TC-CCP)? 1. NCDEX 2. BSE 3. NSE 4. MCX A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4 158. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently laid the foundation stone for AIIMS at? A) Kangra B) Palampur C) Manali D) Bilaspur 159. Power Finance Corp (PFC) has approved the proposal for merger of which of its wholly-owned subsidiary with the company? A) Power Equity Capital Advisors B) PFC Capital Advisory Services C) PFC Green Energy D) PFC Consulting 160. SEBI appointed panel on corporate governance recently submitted its report. It was headed by? A) Aroon Puri B) Cyril Shroff C) Gopal Vittal D) Uday Kotak 161. Which NGO has launched an illustrated book on visual impairment due to refractive error in children, titled 'The Singing Tree'? A) Vision Foundation B) Sightsavers C) Vision 2020 D) Orbis India 162. In a first, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) India found a photo evidence of the snow leopard in? A) Sikkim B) Arunachal Pradesh C) Uttarakhand D) Jammu & Kashmir 163. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently inaugurated the golden jubilee year celebrations of? A) INBA B) ICSI C) ICWAI D) ICAI 164. How much amount has International Finance Corporation (IFC) invested in the 5-year unrated masala bond issuances of Fullerton India Credit Company? A) USD 52 million B) USD 88 million C) USD 76 million D) USD 65 million 165. The first regional language version of the GST Rate Finder was recently launched in? A) Telugu B) Malayalam C) Tamil D) Kannada 166. Which ministry has been adjudged as the best department for its contribution during ‘Swachhta Pakhwada’? A) Women & Child Development B) Environment C) Health D) Road Transport 167. AIIB and ADB will co-finance a loan of how much amount for India to improve power transmission network and expand the use of renewable energy? A) USD 100-million B) USD 250-million C) USD 150-million D) USD 200-million

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168. How many countries have been suspended from weightlifting for a year by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF)? A) 7 B) 3 C) 5 D) 9 169. Which company has launched India's first online bidding platform for residential and commercial properties? A) 99Acres B) Magicbricks C) Housing D) Makaan 170. Which institute has won the first 'Most Clean Campus Award 2017' instituted for Engineering Institutions by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)? A) Coimbatore Institute of Technology B) Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology C) Delhi College of Engineering D) Manipal Institute of Technology 171. Railways has exempted passengers from payment of service charges on tickets booked online till? A) June 2018 B) Dec 2017 C) March 2018 D) Dec 2018 172. As per the newly issued directions by RBI, an NBFCP2P shall have a net owned funds of higher of asspecified by the bank or? A) Rs 50 million B) Rs 20 million C) Rs 40 million D) Rs 30 million 173. Centre has set up High-Level Forum for rolling out 5G in India by? A) 2019 B) 2020 C) 2017 D) 2018 174. As per a study conducted by Norton by Symantec, which country has reported the highest levels of online harassment in the Asia Pacific region? A) India B) Philippines C) China D) Indonesia 175. Who has won the 2017 Nobel Prize for Literature? A) Kazuo Ishiguro B) Martin Amis C) Ian McEwan D) Haruki Murakami 176. Which company has launched MarQ, its private label for large appliances? A) Tata CLiQ B) Amazon C) Paytm D) Flipkart 177. NIOS is going to offer a course, called Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed), for the untrainedteachers in the elementary education system to be trained by? A) March 2019 B) Dec 2018 C) Dec 2017 D) March 2018 178. Who has topped the Forbes' list of India's richest for the tenth year in a row with a net worth of USD 38 billion? A) Lakshmi Mittal B) Hinduja Brothers C) Azim Premji D) Mukesh Ambani 179. Which nation has approved a new anti-terrorism law? A) Britain B) France C) Germany D) US 180. What is the rank of SEBI chairman Ajay Tyagi in the World's Most Influential People in Market Structure launched by Patrick Young & Exchange Invest? A) 10th B) 3rd C) 5th D) 7th 181. Which state has implemented the Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS) to provide easy access to curative geriatric health care services? A) Bihar B) Himachal Pradesh C) Odisha D) Telangana 182. Government has announced the issue of Sovereign Gold Bonds 2017-18 series-III. The investment limit per individual has been increased from 500 grams to? A) 1 kg B) 3 kg C) 4 kg D) 2 kg 183. Who has been re-elected as president of the Federations of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) for 2017-18? A) Praksh Sinha B) John K Paul C) Vinod Jena D) Afzal Saeed 184. How many medals did India win, to finish second after China, at the 20th Asia Masters Athletics Championships in Rugao, China? A) 121 B) 183 C) 146 D) 85 185. A UGC panel has suggested to drop the words ‘Muslim’ and ‘Hindu’ from AMU & BHU. The panel was constituted to audit how many central universities? A) 5 B) 10 C) 15 D) 20

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186. The Supreme Court has held that sexual intercourse by a man with his minor wife will be considered as rape. Earlier, Clause 2 of which section of the IPC allowed the husband of a girl child — between 15 and 18 years of age, the liberty to have nonconsensual sexual intercourse with her? A) Section 377 B) Section 360 C) Section 389 D) Section 375 187. Who has been appointed as the CEO of Freecharge, which has been bought by Axis Bank in a Rs 373 crore deal? A) Shankar Agarwal B) Vinod Agrawal C) Sangram Singh D) Anuj Kumar Bishnoi 188. Which country has recently approved a new test -- called the cobas Zika test -- to screen donated blood for the Zika virus? A) India B) Brazil C) US D) France 189. Which of the following has introduced intelligent features in its GST software to help businesses ensure flow of credit without reducing their working capital reserve? A) TaxSpanner B) Taxmantra C) Taxsmile D) ClearTax 190. The Supreme Court has, till November 1, 2017, suspended the sale of firecrackers in? A) Delhi NCR B) Maharashtra C) Punjab D) Uttar Pradesh 191. Which IIT hosted the 'Dialogue of Civilizations- IV organized by the National Geographic Society, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)? A) Kharagpur B) Gandhinagar C) Delhi D) Kanpur 192. As per a recent announcement by CBDT, how many new APAs did it sign in September with Indian taxpayers to reduce litigation by providing certainty in transfer pricing? A) 2 B) 10 C) 8 D) 15 193. Which nation launched Venezuela's remote sensing satellite, VRSS-2? A) India B) Russia C) USA D) China 194. US government has eased sanctions against which nation? A) Nigeria B) Burkina Faso C) Sudan D) Malawi 195. Which of the following companies has roped in Katrina Kaif as its first brand ambassador? A) Flipkart B) Titan Eyeplus C) Amazon D) Lenskart 196. Which of the following has been recognised as India's best fast moving FMCG company in the food sector at the 5th IAA Leadership Awards at Mumbai? A) Kissan B) Britannia C) GCMMF D) Parle Agro 197. Who has won the 2017 Nobel Prize for economics for his work in behavioural economics? A) Daniel Kahneman B) Richard Thaler C) Robert Shiller D) Herb Simon 198. International Olympic Committee (IOC) has recently suspended the Olympic Committee of which nation and its president? A) Russia B) France C) India D) Brazil 199. President Ram Nath Kovind recently announced to give Ethiopia a line of credit for power transmission of? A) USD 195 million B) USD 315 million C) USD 145 million D) USD 255 million 200. In which state did President Ram Nath Kovind launch Mata Amritanandamayi Math's Rs 100 crore clean water initiative 'Jivamritam' filtration system? A) Andhra Pradesh B) Tamilnadu C) Karnataka D) Kerala 201. 260 applications have been received from scientists globally for the Centre's Visiting Advanced Joint Research (VAJRA) Faculty scheme. It is a project run by? A) Department of Bio-Technology B) Department of Scientific and Industrial Research C) Department of Science and Technology D) Department of Space 202. Which F1 driver won the Japanese Grand Prix? A) Lewis Hamilton B) Valtteri Bottas C) Max Verstappen D) Daniel Ricciardo 203. Which state government has launched 'Solar Briefcase' programme, for providing off grid power in remote areas, funded by Hans foundation? A) Uttarakhand B) Rajasthan C) Maarashtra D) Andhra Pradesh 204. What is India's rank on Nation Brands 2017 report by Brand Finance? A) 2nd B) 14th C) 5th D) 8th

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205. Who inaugurated 'India Water Week', with 2017 theme “Water and Energy for Inclusive Growth”, in New Delhi? A) Venkaiah Naidu B) Nitin Jairam Gadkari C) Uma Bharti D) Ram nath Kovind 206. China has recently approved which company's $1.1- billion purchase of Samsung Electronics’ printer business? A) Dell B) HP C) Lenovo D) Acer 207. Who has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) to succeed Gajendra Chauhan? A) Akshay Kumar B) Prasoon Joshi C) Anupam Kher D) Ashok Pandit 208. What is the name of the first British ship which sank during the World War II, whose shipwreck has been found on the sea bed off the coast of Ireland? A) HMS Electra B) SS Bremen C) SS Athenia D) HMS Fame 209. Which state has recently banned chlorinated plastic and PVC with immediate effect? A) Himachal Pradesh B) Rajasthan C) Bihar D) Chhattisgarh 210. Which nation has become the smallest ever to qualify for FIFA World Cup to be held in Russia in 2018? A) Trinidad & TobagoB) Iceland C) Grenada D) Seychelles 211. GST Council has lowered tax rates on how many products in the 22nd meeting held in New Delhi? A) 35 B) 27 C) 18 D) 21 212. Two-day conference on Blockchain technology was recently held at? A) New Delh i B) Bengaluru C) Vishakhapatnam D) Chandigarh 213. A parliamentary panel on external affairs, headed by whom, will examine Dokalam standoff and the Rohingya issue? A) Subramanian SwamyB) Kapil Sibal C) Shashi Tharoor D) Jairam Ramesh 214. When was World Day against the Death Penalty observed? A) Oct 14 B) Oct 12 C) Oct 8 D) Oct 10 215. A RBI study group, headed by whom, has recently submitted its report on external benchmark rate for banks? A) Janak Raj B) Himanshu Nagar C) Vineet Panwar D) Pawan Singh 216. Which bank has committed a financial assistance of Rs 10 crore to the Indian Armed Forces? A) YES Bank B) HDFC Bank C) Federal Bank D) ICICI Bank 217. A 3,000 kilometer transcontinental World Solar Challenge car race kicked off in? A) Switzerland B) Canada C) Germany D) Australia 218. IBBI has relaxed norms for information utilities. Listed Indian companies can now hold how much per cent of the paid-up equity share capital or total voting power rights in such firms? A) 100% B) 80% C) 75% D) 60% 219. Which IIT has signed an MoU with Samsung India for the setting up of a digital academy? A) Kanpur B) Roorkee C) Kharagpur D) Guwahati 220. Who has been appointed to head the high-level 5- member Committee constituted by MHA to study problems of border people on Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB) in J&K? A) Mandeep K Bhandari,B) Rina Mitra C) RK Goyal D) Baseer Khan 221. Researchers from which nation have created a smart bandage which can accommodate multiple medications and be controlled for the dose and delivery schedule ? A) India B) US C) Sweden D) Germany 222. Who has been appointed as the new president of the US-India Business Council (USIBC)? A) Kamala Harris B) Nisha Desai Biswal C) Vinita Jindal D) Pramila Jayapal 223. Which company and the Andhra Pradesh government has enabled digital payments under the Vizag Digital Dhan Sankalp (VDDS) project? A) Maestro B) Visa C) Rupay D) Mastercard 224. MoRTH has reconstituted a panel for approving proposals for use of new technologies, material and equipment. It is to be headed by? A) SR Tambe B) Vishal Saluja C) Ranjeet Basu D) NG Kakkad

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225. Who won the men's singles title at the China Open held at Beijing? A) Andy Murray B) Rafael Nadal C) Nick Kyrgios D) Roger Federer 226. Which of the following companies has signed an MoU with Finland's Fortum Oyj for developing electric vehicle charging infrastructure in India? A) L&T B) NBCC C) Mahindra & MahindraD) Tata 227. Minister of Petroleum Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated the office of which oil giant in Gurugram recently? A) ExxonMobil B) Saudi Aramco C) Chevron Corporation D) PETRONAS 228. Who inaugurated the third edition of the two-day ‘International Conference on Yoga for Wellness’ with theme “Yoga for Wellness” in Delhi? A) M. Venkaiah NaiduB) Arvind Kejriwal C) Ram Nath Kovind D) Narendra Modi 229. The first ever conference of Partner NGOs of MoWCD was recently inaugurated by Union minister Maneka Gandhi at? A) New Delh B) Lucknow C) Jaipur D) Chandigarh 230. The governing body of which sport has recently made it mandatory for the players to pass the Yo- Yo fitness test for getting selected on the national team? A) Cricket B) Hockey C) Football D) Basketball 231. Who has been appointed as the new MD and CEO of PNB MetLife India Insurance? A) Ashish Srivastava B) Vishwapati Trivedi C) Rajiv Gupt D) Rakesh Singh 232. Scientists in which country have identified a new bacterium, named Allostreptomyces indica YIM 75704T, that could be used to produce antibiotics? A) US B) India C) Australia D) Japan 233. Which badminton player has won the gold medal at the U-15 women's singles competition at the Asian Junior Championship held at Yangon, Myanmar? A) Ameya Verma B) Keerthana Ramakrishnan C) Abhinaya Reddy D) Samiya Imad Farooqui 234. Who inaugurated the four-day first Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation Disaster Management Exercise (BIMSTEC DMEx-2017) at Delhi? A) Rajnath Singh B) Dr. Harsh Vardhan C) Nitin Gadkari D) Nirmala Sitharaman 235. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched 'Intensified Mission Indradhanush from Gujarat's Vadnagar. It now aims to ensure 90 per cent coverage for full immunisation by? A) Mar 2018 B) Dec 2018 C) Dec 2017 D) Mar 2019 236. Prasar Bharti recently launched an online application system for music auditions across all genres for the All India Radio (AIR) on the occasion of 64th Akashvani Sangeet Sammelan held at? A) New Delhi B) Mumbai C) Bhopal D) Chandigarh 237. NABARD has bought an additional 7% stake in SIDBI for Rs 900 crore from? A) Bank of India B) IDBI Bank C) Syndicate Bank D) Vijaya Bank 238. What is the name of India's first-ever portal dedicated to para sportspersons? A) thenationspride.com B) saluteindiasheroes.com C) celebratethewinners.com D) indiaschampions.com 239. Which Indian player has claimed the World Open Under-16 Snooker Championship title in the girlscategory, held at St. Petersburg, Russia? A) Anupama Ramachandran B) Haritha Gopal C) Keerthana Pandian D) Vishnupriya Reddy 240. International Day of the Girl Child', with the 2017 theme "EmPOWER Girls: Before, during and after crises", was observed on? A) Oct 8 B) Oct 11 C) Oct 13 D) Oct 14 241. SpaceX recently launched how many Iridium-NEXT communications satellites into space? A) 10 B) 21 C) 36 D) 49 242. Northeast labour ministers' meeting was recently held at? A) Imphal B) Agartala C) Shillong D) Dispur

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243. National Mission for Clean Ganga has recently approved 8 projects worth? A) Rs 200 crore B) Rs 400 crore C) Rs 700 crore D) Rs 1000 crore 244. A BRICS-themed subway train has started its test run in? A) Russia B) China C) Brazil D) India 245. Which Indian state has emerged as the leading source market for Australia in terms of tourists? A) Karnataka B) Maharashtra C) Tamilnadu D) Punjab 246. Which Indian badminton player has won the men's singles title at the Bulgarian International Future Series tournament held in Sofia? A) Arvind Bhat B) Anand Pawar C) RMV Gurusaidutt D) Sourabh Varma 247. Researchers in which nation conducted a study which suggests that exposure to air pollution has effects on children’s cognitive development and reduces their working memory? A) US B) China C) India D) Spain 248. Which country has announced to have revised the tourist visa rules for people from India, China and Russia? A) Kuwait B) Oman C) Saudi Arabia D) UAE 249. Which country has begun the exercise titled Pacific Resilience Disaster Response Exercise and Exchange (DREE) with Bangladesh in Dhaka and Mymensingh? A) India B) China C) USA D) Sri Lanka 250. What was the 2017 theme of World Mental Health Day observed on Oct 10? A) Mental health in the workplace B) Psychological first aid C) Dignity in mental health D) Mental health and older adults 251. How much amount has central government sanctioned for the setting up of Aadhaar centres in post offices across India? A) Rs 2000 crore B) Rs 2500 crore C) Rs 3000 crore D) Rs 1500 crore 252. Which small finance bank has announced to have tied up with Aditya Birla Health Insurance? A) Disha Small Finance Bank B) Equitas Small Finance Bank C) Ujjivan Small Finance Bank D) AU Small Finance Bank 253. RBI has initiated a 'prompt corrective action' against which bank for high NPAs? A) Oriental Bank of Commerce B) Bank of Maharashtra C) Corporation Bank D) Punjab & Sindh Bank 254. Mera Hou Chongba festival was recently celebrated in? A) Mizoram B) Tripura C) Nagaland D) Manipur 255. Government has announced to have raised the stake in IDBI bank to? A) 86.13% B) 81.47% C) 77.79% D) 75.62% 256. Which bank has officially opened its new Global Business Services (GBS) centre at Bengaluru? A) Deutsche Bank B) DBS Bank C) Standard Chartered Bank D) Barclays Bank 257. 3-day international exhibition - 'World Dental Show 2017', hosted by the Indian Dental Association (IDA), was recently held at? A) Mumbai B) New Delhi C) Chennai D) Kolkata 258. Bismoy Kumar Mohanty, who recently passed away, was a noted? A) Advocate B) Politician C) Journalist D) Actor 259. Who has been appointed the first chief financial officer (CFO) of Swiggy? A) Anup Puri B) Rahul Bothra C) Vinay Bisht D) Suresh Sahay 260. Who headed the Haj Committee which recently submitted its report to Ministry of Minority Affairs? A) Qaiser Shamim B) S.S. Parkar C) Afzal Amanullah D) Kamal Faruqui 261. Which bank has entered into an MoU with HPCL for enabling all HPCL retail outlets throughout Karnataka with BHIM/UPI merchant solutions? A) Indian Bank B) Vijaya Bank C) Allahabad Bank D) UCO Bank 262. Which company has announced to have acquired 9X Media Pvt Ltd and its subsidiaries from New Silk Route & others for Rs 160 crore? A) Colors B) SET India C) Star India D) Zee Entertainment

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263. Who has been appointed to head the group of ministers (GoM) set up to make the composition scheme more attractive and to revisit the GST rates on restaurants? A) Haseeb Drabu B) Sushil Modi C) Himanta Biswa Sarma D) Manpreet Singh Badal 264. Who clinched his maiden international title on the Asian Tour’s Yeangder Tournament Players Championship in Taipei? A) Anirban Lahiri B) Ajeetesh Sandhu C) Gaganjeet Bhullar D) Shiv Kapur 265. Who is the author of the novel 'Sugandhi Enna Andal Devanayaki' which has been chosen for Vayalar Ramavarma Literary Prize? A) Anil Kumar B) Thomas Mathew C) K.P. Mohanan D) T.D. Ramakrishnan 266. Who has been conferred the ‘Cross of the Order of Merit’, the highest civilian honour awarded by Germany? A) Sunil Arora B) Sanjay Kumar C) Rajesh Nath D) Ajit Mahesh 267. Who has been appointed by the Supreme Court, as the Amicus Curiae or impartial adviser, to examine the scope for re-investigating Mahatma Gandhi's assassination in 1948? A) Amrendra Sharan B) L Nageswara Rao C) S A Bobde D) Pankaj Phadnis 268. Which state's Department of Tourism has launched a three-year long Continuous Tourist Survey 2017-20? A) Goa B) Uttarakhand C) Kerala D) Rajasthan 269. Three states announced a cut in Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel. Which of the following is not one of them? A) Maharashtra B) Madhya Pradesh C) Himachal Pradesh D) Gujarat 270. Which of the following is the first tribal dominant district in Rajasthan which has become Open Defecation Free (ODF)? A) Baran B) Sirohi C) Jhunjhunu D) Dungarpur 271. Vinay Mohan Kwatra has been appointed as India's new Ambassador to? A) Monaco B) San Marino C) Andorra D) Belgium 272. World Post Day, celebrated each year on 9 October, is the anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union in 1874 in? A) Munich B) Brussels C) Oslo D) Bern 273. PM Narendra Modi recently launched Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) under the Skill India scheme. It seeks to train 6 crore students till? A) March 2019 B) March 2018 C) March 2020 D) March 2021 274. Which airport is set to be become India's first Aadhaar-enabled airport by 2018? A) Mumbai B) Hyderabad C) Delhi D) Bengaluru 275. Which company has signed an agreement with Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (IREDA) for Rs 300 crore loan? A) Reliance Commercial Finance B) Tata Capital C) Bajaj Finserv D) SBI Financial Services 276. Which of the following has become the first law firm to have opened an office at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT)? A) Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas B) SS Rana and Company C) ALG India Law Offices D) J Sagar Associates 277. Which of the following pair won the recurve team gold medal at the World Archery Youth Championship in Rosario, Argentina? A) Atul Verma and Khushbu Dhayal B) Khushbu Dhayal and Jemson Ningthoujam C) Jemson Ningthoujam and Ankita Bhakat D) Ankita Bhakat and Atul Verma 278. Which city is going to get India's first marine police training and research institute? A) Bhubaneswar B) Panaji C) Vizag D) Dwarka 279. Who has resigned from his position of Chairman & CEO of PepsiCo India to join Aditya Birla Group as president (corporate strategy and busines s development)? A) R. Vijaykumar B) G. Mohan Kumar C) K. Vijayraghavan D) D. Shivakumar

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280. India recently celebrated its 85th Air Force Day? A) Oct 9 B) Oct 12 C) Oct 8 D) Oct 11 281. Vinit Kumar has taken over charge as chairman of? A) Kandla Port Trust B) Vishakhapatnam Port Trust C) Kolkata Port Trust D) Chennai Port Trust 282. Which insurance company has launched its chatbot ‘Eazy Connect’? A) Tata AIA Life B) IDBI Federal Life C) Birla Sun Life D) ICICI Prudential 283. Which of the following is not one of the agreement signed during 14th India-EU Summit held in New Delhi? A) Agreement between EU & SERB for Indian Researchers B) Finance Contract of Bangalore Metro for Euro 300 million C) Agreement between SEBI and ESMA D) Joint Declaration between ISA and the European Investment Bank 284. Prabhakarpant Ojharkar, who recently passed away, belonged to which political party? A) RJD B) BJP C) BSP D) INC 285. FIFA has recently suspended which nation's football federation? A) Brazil B) Russia C) Bangladesh D) Pakistan 286. With how many medals did India top the medal tally in the Track Asia Cup held at New Delhi? A) 34 B) 45 C) 21 D) 18 287. 44th edition of Indian Handicrafts and Gifts Fair, the world's largest B2B handicraft and gifts fair, was recently held at? A) Greater Noida B) Chandigarh C) Jaipur D) Ranchi 288. Kwon Oh-hyun has resigned from his position of CEO of? A) Mi B) Samsung Electronics C) HTC D) Vivo 289. As per Central Statistics Office (CSO), India's index of industrial production (IIP) reached in August a ninemonth high of? A) 4.3% B) 3.9% C) 4.8% D) 5.1% 290. Which state has announced a new Garment and Apparel Policy 2017? A) Maharashtra B) Andhra Pradesh C) Gujarat D) Uttar Pradesh 291. Which Indian cricketer has announced his retirement from the competitive cricket? A) Ashish Nehra B) Yuvraj Singh C) Harbhajan Singh D) Gautam Gambhir 292. Who has been honoured with ' Vayoshreshtha Samman', the National Award for senior citizens by President Ramnath Kovind? A) Gurbax Singh Sandhu B) S. M. Arif C) Ramakant Achrekar D) Satpal Singh 293. Which Indian footballer scored India’s first-ever goal in a FIFA competition in a match against Colombia in the FIFA U-17 World Cup? A) Amarjit Singh B) Jeakson Thounaojam C) Boris Thangjam D) Dheeraj Moirangthem 294. Who has been appointed as the Business Head of 'MobiKwik Payment Gateway'? A) Rukaiya Rangwala B) Somya Sethi C) Upasana Taku D) Anjali Pednekar 295. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley recently attended the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting at? A) Beijing B) Washington DC C) Hamburg D) St Petersburg 296. World's largest combustion research centre, National Centre for Combustion Research and Development (NCCRD), was recently inaugurated at which IIT? A) Kharagpur B) Delhi C) Bombay D) Madras 297. Amazon Web Services (AWS) has tied up with which company to launch an open-source and deep learning interface 'Gluon'? A) Google B) Apple C) Intel D) Microsoft 298. Union Cabinet has approved signing of an MoC with which country on establishing a liquid, flexible and global LNG Market? A) Vietnam B) China C) South Korea D) Japan

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299. World Standards Day was observed on? A) Oct 10 B) Oct 12 C) Oct 14 D) Oct 8 300. Which of the following Indian Naval Ships are visiting Sasebo in Japan to take part in Passage Exercise (PASSEX)? 1. INS Talwar 2. INS Ganga 3. INS Satpura 4. INS Kadmatt A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4 301. The annual Dilli seminar on 'India and Southeast Asia: Maritime Trade, Expedition and Civilisation Linkages' recently began at? A) Andhra Pradesh B) New Delhi C) Gujarat D) Kerala 302. International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) has been approved by Union Cabinet for changing its status from a NGO to an? A) IGO B) CSO C) MGO D) DGO 303. Who has been awarded the Kota Shivaram Karanth Huttura Prashasti? A) Saeed Mirza B) Prakash Raj C) Paresh Kamdar D) Dibakar Banerjee 304. Which of the following departments has launched the Sampoorna Bima Gram (SBG) Yojana? A) Department of Social Justice and Empowerment B) Department of Posts C) Department of Health and Family Welfare D) Department of Financial Services 305. Who has been appointed as the interim MD of Facebook India to replace Umang Bedi, who stepped down from his position recently? A) Naman Bhardwaj B) Kirthiga Reddy C) Ravi Agnihotri D) Sandeep Bhushan 306. Government recently announced that transportation of natural gas through pipeline will attract GST,without input tax credits, of? A) 5% B) 12% C) 18% D) 28% 307. SEBI has directed the stock exchanges to impose a fine of how much amount per day on companies non-compliant with the minimum public shareholding norms? A) Rs 5,000 B) Rs 20,000 C) Rs 10,000 D) Rs 15,000 308. India recently began the joint training exercise "Mitra Shakti 2017" at Aundh Military Station in Pune with which country? A) Thailand B) Sri Lanka C) Nepal D) Bangladesh 309. India has secured a direct qualification to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup for the first time since 1984, after defeating which team? A) Thailand B) Kyrgyzstan C) Vietnam D) Macau 310. How much amount has Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) raised through ‘GOI Fully Serviced Bonds’ recently? A) Rs 880 crore B) Rs 550 crore C) Rs 990 crore D) Rs 660 crore 311. Which city is going to host an international Puppet festival for the first time? A) Jodhpur B) Bhopal C) New Delhi D) Kolkata 312. As per World Payment Report, 2017, jointly commissioned by Capgemini and BNP Paribas, digital payments during 2016-2020 will grow at a CAGR of? A) 18.3% B) 31.1% C) 26.2% D) 20.6% 313. IMF has slashed India's GDP growth forecast for 2017 from 7.2% to? A) 6.9% B) 6.7% C) 7% D) 7.1% 314. Who has become the first female referee to officiate a match at the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 at a match held at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata? A) Bibiana Steinhaus B) Kari Seitz C) Esther Staubli D) Christine Baitinger 315. Which of the following Palestinian political parties reached a deal over political reconciliation? 1. Fatah 2. Third way 3. Al-Mustaqbal 4. Hamas A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4 316. Which of the following announced the launch of mobile app - Trade Transaction Tracker - to help customers track the status of their trade transactions on a real-time basis? A) Kotak Securities B) HSBC C) HDFC Securities D) SMC

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317. Which bank announced the launch of SmartUp zones in its branches across India? A) HDFC Bank B) Axis Bank C) Federal Bank D) ICICI Bank 318. MasterCard announced the launch of its India innovation centre at? A) Punjab B) Maharashtra C) Telangana D) Tamilnadu 319. Union Cabinet has approved an MoU with which country for cooperation in the field of Vocational Education and Training (VET)? A) Ukraine B) Poland C) Belarus D) Croatia 320. Who has been chosen for the Mathrubhumi Literary Award for 2016? A) M. T. Vasudevan Nair B) N. S. Madhavan C) M K Sanu D) Paul Zacharia 321. Who will head the National Committee, been set up to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi from October 2, 2019 to October 2, 2020? A) M Venkaiah NaiduB) Amit Shah C) Narendra Modi D) Arun Jaitley 322. Who has been appointed as the new CEO of HSBC? A) John Flint B) Mark Greene C) Douglas Hannigan D) Stuart Gulliver 323. Arjen Robben, who recently announced his retirement from international football, played for which football club? A) Paris Saint-Germain F.C. B) Juventus F.C C) FC Bayern Munich D) Atlético Madrid 324. Centre has imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of certain steel wire rods for five years, from? A) China B) Malaysia C) South Korea D) Indonesia 325. Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing of an MoU with which nation on cooperation in the field of water resources? A) Mauritania B) Algeria C) Egypt D) Morocco 326. With which country did Indian Railways sign a joint declaration of Intent for increasing the speed of passenger trains to 200 kmph? A) Germany B) Japan C) China D) US 327. National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has been assigned by Moody’s Investors Service a rating of? A) Ba2 B) A3 C) B1 D) Baa3 328. US-Liberian clinical research partnership has reported successful clinical trials of two experimental vaccines against which of the following diseases? A) Zika B) Ebola C) Yellow Fever D) Avian Influenza 329. Satish Chandra, who recently passed away, was a noted? A) Journalist B) Jurist C) Historian D) Astronomer 330. Which of the following has launched a mobile health App named 'MedWatch'? A) Indian Air Force B) Indian Medical Council C) AIIMS D) NITI Aayog 331. Centre has approved setting up of two sewage treatment plants (STPs) at which of the following locations in the PPP mode for a combined cost of Rs 324.69 crore under the Namami Gange programme? 1. Haridwar 2. Varanasi 3. Allahabad 4. Gorakhpur A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4 332. As per RBI, Gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio for NBFCs has increased to how much percent at end-March 2017? A) 4.1% B) 3.5% C) 2.9% D) 5% 333. Tata Teleservices has announced to merge its consumer mobile business operations with? A) Vodafone B) Reliance Jio C) Bharti Airtel D) RCom 334. Which state has recently approved reservations for persons with disabilities in government jobs and educational institutions? A) Bihar B) Kerala C) Punjab D) Odisha 335. Week 9th to 14th October, 2017 has been celebrated by the government to promote which scheme? A) Beti Bachao Beti Padhao B) Swachh Bharat C) UDAN D) Ujala

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336. Which company recently launched India's third biggest IPO of Rs 11,370 crore? A) ONGC B) SBI C) NALCO D) GIC Re 337. India has denounced signing the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) as a non-nuclear weapon states (NNWS). Who is the India's Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament? A) Syed Akbaruddin B) Vikas Swarup C) Amandeep Singh Gill D) Atul Khare 338. Which state government has launched a web portal named ‘MahaLabharthi', to help people get information about all the government schemes? A) Andhra Pradesh B) Maharashtra C) Jharkhand D) Kerala 339. What is Delhi's rank on the Safe Cities Index by The Economist, which ranked 60 cities? A) 38 B) 60 C) 43 D) 57 340. Which company recently unveiled its new line of computer chips named "Pegasus", for self- driving vehicle? A) Honeywell B) Nvidia C) Graftek D) Interphase 341. Who has become the first cricketer from Bangladesh to be inducted in the MCC World Cricket Committee under the chairmanship of Mike Gatting? A) Mahmudullah B) Tamim Iqbal C) Mashrafe Mortaza D) Shakib Al Hasan 342. International Day for Disaster Reduction' was observed with the 2017 theme "Home Safe Home: Reducing Exposure, Reducing Displacement", on? A) Oct 13 B) Oct 11 C) Oct 14 D) Oct 12 343. What is India's rank out of 119 countries ranked on the Global Hunger Index by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)? A) 72 B) 100 C) 113 D) 86 344. European Securities & Markets Authority (ESMA) has certified 'MCCIL', the clearing arm of which stock exchange as third country central counterparty? A) OTCEI B) ASE C) MSE D) DSE 345. LG Electronics India has partnered with which company to launch an exclusive co-branded EMI card to allow customers to buy LG products at no cost EMI option? A) Bajaj Finance B) HDFC Bank C) Tata Capital D) Axis Bank 346. Which country recently launched its fourth Michibiki satellite for a new high-precision global positioning system? A) China B) South Korea C) Japan D) Mongolia 347. Who is going to head the commission being constituted to recommend a new salary structure for Judges of lower courts? A) VN Khare B) P Sathasivam C) Kurian Joseph D) PV Reddi 348. Which of the following has become the first Indian Oil Company to enter the lubricant market in Myanmar? A) IOL B) BPCL C) IOCL D) HPCL 349. Who has become the first Indian ambassador of Laureus? A) R Ashwin B) Virat Kohli C) MS Dhoni D) Yuvraj Singh 350. ICC has given its nod to a test championship and one-day international league. How many out of the 12 test-approved countries will initially be a part of the championship? A) 10 B) 9 C) 6 D) 4 351. Who has been appointed as the new Director- General of UNESCO? A) Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari B) Audrey Azoulay C) Irina Bokova D) Frauke Petry 352. RBI has issued final guidelines for prepaid payment instruments (PPI). The cash loading limit per month has been fixed at? A) Rs 50,000 B) Rs 25,000 C) Rs 75,000 D) Rs 20,000 353. Which of the following World Bank backed, skill development schemes have been approved by the Cabinet? 1. SAMARTH 2. SAMRIDDHI 3. STRIVE 4. SANKALP A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4

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354. World Bank has reduced India's GDP growth forecast for 2017-18 from 7.2% to? A) 6.9% B) 6.6% C) 7% D) 6.8% 355. Which state government has approved a climate change adaptation policy to develop environment friendly villages and cities? A) Telangana B) Maharashtra C) Chhattisgarh D) Gujarat 356. Gujarat government has decided to set up how many new GIDC estates with an estimated investment of Rs 15,000 crore? A) 10 B) 16 C) 5 D) 9 357. As per a report by LinkedIn, what is India's rank in terms of global pharmaceuticals and biotechnology workforce? A) 12th B) 9th C) 5th D) 2nd 358. The first meeting of Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC), headed by newly appointed Bibek Debroy, was recently held in? A) Mumbai B) Gandhinagar C) New Delhi D) Varanasi 359. Which state government has announced ration cards for nomadic tribes living across the state? A) Assam B) Chhattisgarh C) Jharkhand D) Haryana 360. Union Cabinet has approved signing of an MoU by SEBI with Capital Markets Authority (CMA) of? A) Egypt B) Kuwait C) Singapore D) Sweden 361. Who has taken over charge as Vistara's CEO post receiving all the necessary approvals from GoI and regulatory authorities? A) Phee Teik Yeoh B) Jin Yun Kai C) Giam Ming Toh D) Leslie Thng 362. Which of the following countries have announced to withdraw from UNESCO, effective Dec 2018? 1. Israel 2. US 3. UK 4. Australia A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4 363. 48th Conference of Governors was recently held at? A) New Delhi B) Puducherry C) Chandigarh D) New Raipur 364. Which space agency recently launched the EchoStar 105/SES-11 satellite and successfully landed its reusable booster on the droneship station in the Atlantic? A) ESA B) SpaceX C) ISRO D) NASA 365. RBI has asked the mobile wallet firms to ensure KYC compliance of existing users by Dec 31, 2017. Consumers failing to complete KYC will be allowed to keep only up to? A) Rs 15,000 B) Rs 10,000 C) Rs 25,000 D) Rs 20,000 366. Who chaired the first meeting of International Oil and Gas think-tank formed by the government? A) Daniel Yergin B) K V Kamath C) Dharmendra PradhanD) Satish Pai 367. Which of the following chief ministers flagged off a fleet of 50 buses under the 'Sankalp Seva' service in the state capital to connect 6,000 villages? A) Vijay Rupani B) Yogi Aditynath C) Shivraj Singh ChouhanD) Raman Singh 368. Which bank has announced to set up India's largest innovation centre in Mumbai at Rs 100 crore? A) State Bank of IndiaB) Bank of Baroda C) ICICI Bank D) HDFC Bank 369. Which bank has launched the initiative called 'SME Assist', to provide short-term working capital demand loans to its MSME clients? A) Punjab National Bank B) Bank of Baroda C) State Bank of India D) Canara Bank 370. In a first, which country has announced to grant full citizenship in exchange for 44 bitcoin? A) Samoa B) Nauru C) Tuvalu D) Vanuatu 371. Ram Singh Yadav, who recently passed away, was a Congress MLA from? A) Madhya Pradesh B) Rajasthan C) Haryana D) Uttar Pradesh 372. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi of which nation has extended the state of emergency for another three months? A) Egypt B) Algeria C) Tunisia D) Bahrain 373. Who has won the gold medal at 2017 Egypt Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Open? A) Ayushi Sudan B) Tanai Sultania C) Selena Selvakumar D) Anvesha Reddy

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374. IMF has suggested 3 approaches for structural reform in India. Which of the following is not one of them? A) Incentive structures within government B) Address the corporate and banking sector weaknesses C) Continue with the fiscal consolidation through revenue measures D) Improving the efficiency of labour and product 375. markets and further agricultural reforms Who has been selected for the Padma Prabha Puraskaram 2017 by Padma Prabha Memorial Trust? A) M P Veerendra Kumar B) C. Radhakrishnan C) Prabha Varma D) S Mukundan 376. Birsa Munda Tribal University has been inaugurated in which state? A) Odisha B) Jharkhand C) Chhattisgarh D) Gujarat 377. Which metro corporation has launched a scheme of 100-hours free bicycle ride per month? A) Chennai B) Lucknow C) Kochi D) Mumbai 378. Appointment Committee of the Cabinet has appointed how many new secretaries to various government departments? A) 19 B) 11 C) 6 D) 15 379. Pakistan has recently launched its first metro train service, called the Orange Line Metro Train service in which city? A) Islamabad B) Karachi C) Lahore D) Peshawar 380. Scientists from which country have developed a military watch which can resist high impact, including nuclear blast? A) Japan B) China C) India D) Russia 381. Who has become the youngest Indian celebrity to have his wax statue at Madame Tussauds, Hong Kong? A) Varun Dhawan B) Alia Bhatt C) Tiger Shroff D) Siddharth Malhotra 382. Which country has banned the import of fruit and vegetables to save scarce foreign currency? A) Zambia B) Botswana C) Zimbabwe D) Malawi 383. Which Konkani folk artiste has been selected for 2017 'Kalakar Puraskar' by Mandd Sobhann committee? A) Guru Prasad B) Dipen Anand C) Subhankar Mohapatra D) Gopal Gowda 384. The provisions of the FDDI Act 2017 have come into force and it has been granted the status of 'Institute of National Importance'. FDDI was established by which ministry? A) Skill Development and Entrepreneurship B) Labour and Employment C) Commerce and Industry D) Human Resource Development 385. Who is the inspiration of the documentary titled "An Insignificant Man", which has been released recently? A) Arvind Kejriwal B) Manohar Parrikar C) Narendra Modi D) Rahul Gandhi 386. Which country's naval ship 'Somudra Avijan' has arrived at Visakhapatnam on a goodwill visit? A) Sri Lanka B) Myanmar C) Cambodia D) Bangladesh 387. Which fine dining restaurant has been ranked first in India and second in Asia by TripAdvisor in its Travellers’ Choice awards? A) Veda B) Indian Accent C) The Lodi D) Potbelly 388. What was the 2017 theme of World Food Day observed on Oct 16 to commemorate the founding of Food and Agriculture Organization? A) Change the future of migration. Invest in food security and rural development B) Feeding the world, caring for the earth C) Climate is changing. Food and agriculture must too D) Social Protection and Agriculture: Breaking the Cycle of Rural Poverty 389. Which country has announced to quit the precautionary Flexible Credit Line (FCL) from IMF worth $9.2 billion? A) Poland B) Finland C) Sweden D) Norway

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390. Which bank has launched an Android app, named 'Union Sahyog'? A) State Bank of India B) Union Bank of India C) Corporation Bank D) Oriental Bank of Commerce 391. Who has become one of the youngest millionaires in UK, by starting an online real estate agency “doorsteps.co.uk”? A) Vinay Nayak B) Sumit Bhatia C) Vivek Nandan D) Akshay Ruparelia 392. Who has been awarded the 1st Centenary National Award for Literature by Assam Sahitya Sabha? A) Suman Mohanty B) Ganga Singh C) Saumya Jha D) Namita Gokhale 393. Which state's police has launched an initiative where foot-patrol officers will keep a watch across all districts? A) Uttarakhand B) Haryana C) Himachal Pradesh D) Punjab 394. Who is the author of the recently released book 'The Coalition Years: 1996-2012'? A) Manmohan Singh B) Sonia Gandhi C) Hamid Ansari D) Pranab Mukherjee 395. Which of the following is the indigenously-built antisubmarine warfare stealth corvette which has been commissioned into the Indian Navy recently? A) INS Kiltan B) INS Kirch C) INS Kulish D) INS Khukri 396. Which city is going to host the India International Cherry Blossom Festival? A) Agartala B) Shillong C) Imphal D) Gangtok 397. Which state has launched Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana for farmers that aims to cushion them from price crashes? A) Maharashtra B) Andhra Pradesh C) Madhya Pradesh D) Uttar Pradesh 398. Which of the following has emerged as the most authentic brand in India as per the '2017 Authentic Brands Study' by Cohn & Wolfe? A) Maruti Suzuki B) Microsoft C) Google D) Amazon 399. When was 'International Day of Rural Women' observed with the 2017 theme “Challenges and opportunities in climate-resilient agriculture for gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls”? A) Oct 16 B) Oct 19 C) Oct 17 D) Oct 15 400. Which High Court ruled that retail wine shops and bars in scheduled area villages be permitted only after gram sabha's consent? A) Madras B) Calcutta C) Hyderabad D) Bombay 401. Who is going to be conferred with the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration for 2015-16? A) T M KrishnaB) Sanjay Subrahmanyan C) P. Unnikrishnan D) Jayendra Panchapakesan 402. Moody’s Investors Service has affirmed the ratings on State Bank of India’s local and foreign currency deposits of? A) A3/P-1 B) Baa1-P-2 C) Baa3/P-3 D) Ba1/P-2 403. Which bank has signed an MoU with Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) for cross-border exchange between the fintech ecosystems of UAE & India? A) Yes Bank B) IDFC Bank C) DCB Bank D) Federal Bank 404. Who won the women's singles title at the Tianjin Open? A) Anastasija Sevastova B) Maria Sharapova C) Ana Ivanović D) Aryna Sabalenka 405. World Students Day, which was celebrated on Oct 15, is the birth anniversary of? A) S Radhakrishnan B) B. K. S. Iyengar C) APJ Abdul Kalam D) Rajendra Prasad 406. How many Indian peacekeepers stationed in South Sudan have been awarded the UN Medal for being a part of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS)? A) 30 B) 50 C) 20 D) 60 407. Which state government's Directorate of Treasuries and Inspection has signed an MoU with SBI for integration of SBI e-Pay with cyber treasury? A) Andhra Pradesh B) Gujarat C) Odisha D) Karnataka 408. Which Indian city has been ranked as one of the world's worst megacities for sexual violence against women in a survey by Thomson Reuters Foundation? A) Chandigarh B) Delhi C) Bengaluru D) Mumbai

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409. Which of the following banks has bought Bharat Financial Inclusion in a deal worth $2.4 billion? A) Axis Bank B) Yes Bank C) IndusInd Bank D) Kotak Mahindra Bank 410. What is the name of the project launched by Agriculture Ministry to boost the horticulture sector by using remote sensing technology and likely to be completed by March? A) VARDHAN B) CHAMAN C) BAGH D) KRISHI 411. Which of the following is working with states to adopt first set of agri market reforms? A) NITI Aayog B) Department of Agriculture, Co-operation and Farmers Welfare C) Department of Agriculture Research and Education D) Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries 412. Richard Wilbur, who recently passed away, was a famous? A) Astrophysicist B) Poet C) Activist D) Cyclist 413. Indian Naval aircraft P81, reached which country to search for ten Indians missing after the capsize of cargo ship “Emerald Star”? A) Taiwan B) Vietnam C) Cambodia D) Philippines 414. Which company has launched the initiative 'Prerna' for empowering Indian women in agriculture on the occasion of Mahila Kisan Diwas celebrated on Oct 15? A) TATA Group B) Patanjali Ayurved C) Mahindra & MahindraD) Hindustan Unilever 415. BNP Paribas has tied up with which company to transform its platform 'Corporate Event Connect' using blockchain technology? A) Infosys B) TCS C) Wipro D) HCL 416. Which of the following acts have recently come into force? A) Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Bill, 2017 B) Bureau of Indian Standards Act 2016 C) Inter-State River Water Disputes Bill, 2017 D) Repealing and Amending Bill, 2017 417. Which of the following exchanges launched an option’s contract in gold on the occasion of Dhanteras? A) NCDEX B) NSE C) BSE D) MCX 418. Who is going to be the CEO of the combined entity of Bharti Airtel and Millicom International Cellular, who recently announced completion of the deal to merge their operations in Ghana? A) Joseph Muzenda B) Roshi Motman C) Arthur Mutambara D) Jonathan Moyo 419. Which state has a major share, with over 39% cancer cases recorded in India? A) Haryana B) West Bengal C) Karnataka D) Uttar Pradesh 420. SEBI has formed a committee to review regulations and relevant circulars pertaining to market infrastructure institutions (MIIs). It is to be headed by? A) R Gandhi B) G Anantharaman C) Gopal Naik D) Leo Puri 421. Lekh Tandon, who recently passed away, was associated with? A) Literature B) Politics C) Sports D) Films 422. How many nations have been elected to serve on the United Nations Human Rights Council? A) 10 B) 15 C) 18 D) 12 423. Who has won the Man Booker Prize for 2017 for his novel "Lincoln in the Bardo"? A) David Foster Wallace B) Jonathan Franzen C) Dave Eggers D) George Saunders 424. Punyaslok Dasgupta, who recently passed away, was a? A) Diplomat B) Poet C) Social Activist D) Filmmaker 425. AYUSH Festival of Stamps is going to be held in? A) West Bengal B) Delhi C) Kerala D) Goa 426. What is the name of the online campaign launched by MoWCD to end gender bias in women against women? A) #IamThatWoman B) #WomenForWomen C) #UniteWeFight D) #SecureWeStand 427. Which of the following companies has partnered with Textile Ministry to work directly with weavers and promote the handloom industry? A) Amazon B) Voonik C) Ajio D) Myntra

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428. Which company has announced a global strategic partnership with Hyperloop One? A) Virgin Group B) Lufthansa C) Air France D) Emirates 429. World's first 'negative emissions' power plant has become operational in? A) Switzerland B) Sweden C) Norway D) Iceland 430. Global Handwashing Day was observed on? A) Oct 18 B) Oct 15 C) Oct 17 D) Oct 16 431. Which state has become the first to call attention and adjournment motions and proposals online from legislators? A) Karnataka B) Rajasthan C) Gujarat D) Andhra Pradesh 432. Which team won the 37th All India Governor's Gold Cup football tournament for the 10th time held at Gangtok? A) East Bengal B) Partha Chakra C) Mohun Bagan D) Shillong Lajong 433. Olympic gold medal-winning sailor Robert Scheidt has announced his retirement from Olympic competition. He belongs to which country? A) Brazil B) Netherlands C) Germany D) Switzerland 434. International Day for the Eradication of Poverty was observed on? A) Oct 18 B) Oct 17 C) Oct 19 D) Oct 15 435. Election Commission has announced to conduct polls in a single phase from 9th November 2017 in which state? A) Gujarat B) Karnataka C) Himachal Pradesh D) Tripura 436. Who has been conferred with 3rd American Bazaar Philanthropy award? A) Ranjan Sahu B) Archit Yadav C) Ajay Raju D) Neeraj Agarwal 437. Roy Dotrice, who recently passed away, was a famous? A) Actor B) Journalist C) Singer D) Politician 438. How many students from the SR Engineering College, Telangana will take part in the 5th annual NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge to be held in 2018? A) 10 B) 8 C) 2 D) 5 439. A bench headed by which Justice of Supreme Court has disagreed the judgement given in July, which diluted the rigour of Section 498A of IPC which warrants immediate arrest in a dowry- linked complaint? A) Adarsh Kumar Goel B) Dipak Misra C) D Y Chandrachud D) U U Lalit 440. As per Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), in order to increase the capacity of handling 500- 600 million passengers at its airports by 2030, India needs to invest up to? A) $85 billion B) $25 billion C) $45 billion D) $65 billion 441. Who heads the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, which will examine the operational preparedness of the armed forces and review the accidents involving strategic defence assets? A) Janardan Mishra B) Daddan Mishra C) Ajay Tamta D) B C Khanduri 442. 63rd Annual National Conference of Association of Physiologists and Pharmacologists of India, named APPICON 2017, was recently held at? A) Panaji B) Puducherry C) Shillong D) New Delhi 443. Who has become the first Indian woman to sign with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)? A) Geeta Devi B) Kavita Devi C) Bindu Singh D) Garima Singh 444. Pakistan has signed an MoU with which country to improve border security management? A) Iran B) Afghanistan C) India D) China 445. Who won the men's singles title at the Shanghai Masters? A) Roger Federer B) Andy Murray C) Rafael Nadal D) Nick Kyrgios 446. As per Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), in order to increase the capacity of handling 500- 600 million passengers at its airports by 2030, India needs to invest up to? A) $85 billion B) $25 billion C) $45 billion D) $65 billion

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447. Who heads the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, which will examine the operational preparedness of the armed forces and review the accidents involving strategic defence assets? A) Janardan Mishra B) Daddan Mishra C) Ajay Tamta D) B C Khanduri 448. 63rd Annual National Conference of Association of Physiologists and Pharmacologists of India, named APPICON 2017, was recently held at? A) Panaji B) Puducherry C) Shillong D) New Delhi 449. Who has become the first Indian woman to sign with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)? A) Geeta Devi B) Kavita Devi C) Bindu Singh D) Garima Singh 450. Pakistan has signed an MoU with which country to improve border security management? A) Iran B) Afghanistan C) India D) China 451. Who won the men's singles title at the Shanghai Masters? A) Roger Federer B) Andy Murray C) Rafael Nadal D) Nick Kyrgios 452. In a first, which state has announced to set up a scheduled caste advisory council? A) Bihar B) Odisha C) Kerala D) West Bengal 453. First ever All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), was inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi on 'Ayurveda Day' on October 17, in? A) Kochi B) Pune C) New Delhi D) Coimbatore 454. Who has been conferred with the Life Time Achievement Award at the 2nd British Asian Achievers Awards, organised by Jagatwani? A) Swraj Paul B) Firoz Kassam C) Prakash Hinduja D) Lakshmi Mittal 455. Which of the following is going to invest $1billion in the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF)? A) Muscat Investment Authority B) Riyadh Investment Authority C) Doha Investment Authority D) Abu Dhabi Investment Authority 456. In a first, which Indian girl won the sub-title of ‘best performer’ at the ‘Little Miss World 2017’ pageant held in Greece? A) Prerna Dixit B) Abhilasha Sharma C) Navya Singla D) Poorvi G B 457. ICC has approved a trial test series between which of the following countries? 1. India 2. South Africa 3. Zimbabwe 4. Australia A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4 458. Who has been appointed as the MD & CEO of Voltas? A) Anil George B) Pradeep Bakshi C) Deepak Saini D) Sanjay Johri 459. Shamsher Khan, who recently passed away, was India's Olympic first? A) Cyclist B) Shooter C) Swimmer D) Sprinter 460. Who is the author of the recently released book "Beyond the Dream Girl”? A) Dileep Jaiswal B) Ashutosh Dwivedi C) Ram Kamal MukherjeeD) Sharath Chandra 461. Haryana government recently approved to rename which village to Abhimanyupur? A) Amin B) Beersika C) Dewarhu D) Atali 462. Who have been appointed as the two new members in the Railway Board? 1. Mayank Chaturvedi 2. Milind Bapna 3. D K Gayen 4. Mahesh Kumar Gupta A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4 463. World Spine Day was observed, with theme "Your Back in Action", on? A) Oct 16 B) Oct 15 C) Oct 17 D) Oct 18 464. Which bank has selected Intellect Design Arena's Igtb Digital Transaction Banking Platform as technology partner to implement cash management platform and corporate portal? A) Standard Chartered B) Bangkok Bank C) DBS Bank D) Siam Commercial Bank 465. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will participate in the 6th Annual LNG Producers Consumer Conference to be held in? A) Austria B) Qatar C) Japan D) Nigeria

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01 c 02 d 03 d 04 b 05 c 06 b 07 b 08 d 09 d 10 c 11 c 12 d 13 d 14 a 15 b 16 b 17 c 18 c 19 b 20 c 21 a 22 b 23 b 24 d 25 b 26 a 27 c 28 c 29 b 30 d 31 b 32 a 33 a 34 d 35 a 36 a 37 a 38 d 39 a 40 c 41 a 42 c 43 d 44 d 45 b 46 b 47 d 48 c 49 d 50 b 51 d 52 c 53 b 54 d 55 b 56 a 57 a 58 a 59 a 60 a 61 c 62 a 63 d 64 c 65 a 66 c 67 d 68 c 69 c 70 a 71 c 72 b 73 b 74 b 75 a 76 b 77 c 78 d 79 a 80 b 81 c 82 d 83 a 84 b 85 c 86 d 87 a 88 b 89 c 90 c 91 a 92 d 93 c 94 d 95 c 96 d 97 a 98 a 99 a 100 d 101 d 102 b 103 d 104 a 105 d 106 c 107 c 108 a 109 c 110 a 111 a 112 c 113 a 114 b 115 b 116 b 117 c 118 d 119 d 120 a 121 b 122 b 123 d 124 c 125 c 126 a 127 b 128 d 129 b 130 a 131 a 132 c 133 b 134 a 135 d 136 c 137 c 138 b 139 c 140 a 141 a 142 d 143 d 144 b 145 b 146 c 147 b 148 c 149 b 150 a 151 a 152 b 153 b 154 c 155 d 156 c 157 b 158 d 159 c 160 d 161 d 162 b 163 b 164 c 165 a 166 c 167 a 168 d 169 b 170 d 171 c 172 b 173 b 174 a 175 a 176 d 177 a 178 d 179 b 180 d 181 b 182 c 183 b 184 c 185 b 186 d 187 c 188 c 189 d 190 a 191 b 192 a 193 d 194 c 195 d 196 c 197 b 198 d 199 a 200 d 201 c 202 a 203 a 204 d 205 d 206 b 207 c 208 c 209 d 210 b 211 b 212 c 213 c 214 d 215 a 216 d 217 d 218 a 219 c 220 b 221 b 222 b 223 b 224 a 225 b 226 b 227 b 228 a 229 a 230 a 231 a 232 b 233 d 234 a 235 b 236 a 237 b 238 a 239 a 240 b 241 a 242 a 243 c 244 b 245 b 246 c 247 d 248 b 249 c 250 a 251 a 252 d 253 a 254 d 255 c 256 c 257 a 258 c 259 b 260 c 261 b 262 d 263 c 264 b 265 d 266 c 267 a 268 c 269 b 270 d 271 a 272 d 273 a 273 d 275 a 273 d 277 c 278 d 279 d 280 c 281 c 282 a 283 c 284 d 285 d 286 c 287 a 288 b 289 a 290 c 291 a 292 a 293 b 294 a 295 b 296 d 297 d 298 d 299 c 300 c 301 d 302 a 303 b 304 b 305 d 306 a 307 a 308 b 309 d 310 d 311 d 312 c 313 b 314 c 315 d 316 b 317 a 318 b 319 c 320 c 321 c 322 a 323 c 324 a 325 d 326 a 327 d 328 b 329 c 330 a 331 a 332 d 333 c 334 a 335 a 336 d 337 c 338 b 339 c 340 b 341 d 342 a 343 b 344 c 345 a 346 c 347 d 348 d 349 d 350 b 351 b 352 a 353 c 354 c 355 b 356 b 357 d 358 c 359 d 360 b 361 d 362 a 363 a 364 b 365 b 366 c 367 b 368 a 369 c 370 d 371 a 372 a 373 c 374 a 375 c 376 d 377 a 378 b 379 c 380 d 381 a 382 c 383 d 384 c 385 a 386 d 387 b 388 a 389 a 390 b 391 d 392 d 393 d 394 d 395 a 396 b 397 c 398 c 399 d 400 c 401 a 402 c 403 a 404 b 405 c 406 b 407 c 408 b 409 c 410 b 411 a 412 b 413 d 414 c 415 b 416 b 417 d 418 b 419 a 420 a 421 d 422 b 423 d 424 b 425 d 426 a 427 d 428 a 429 d 430 b 431 b 432 c 433 a 434 b 435 c 436 c 437 a 438 d 439 b 440 c 441 d 442 b 443 b 444 a 445 a 446 c 447 d 448 b 449 b 450 a 451 a 452 d 453 c 454 a 455 d 456 d 457 b 458 b 459 c 460 c 461 a 462 c 463 a 464 b 465 c

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1. ADB has approved a loan of how much amount for the modernisation of Himachal Pradesh’s technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions? A) $150 million B) $50 million C) $80 million D) $120 million 2. Who has become the first non-white to head a major political party in Canada? A) Jasmeet Singh B) Gurdeep Singh C) Ravinder Kumar D) Jagmeet Singh 3. Who has been appointed as the brand ambassador of the Swachh Andhra Mission launched by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu? A) Prabhas B) Shriya Saran C) PV Sindhu D) Anushka Shetty 4. With respect to the fourth bi-monthly monetary policy review, the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) has been cut by 50 basis points to? A) 19% B) 20.5% C) 20% D) 19.5% 5. Who is the Indian coach, who has been suspended by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI)? A) Kripa Shanker Patel B) Maha Singh Rao C) Asit Kumar Saha D) Udey Chand 6. Recently launched 'ARPAN Version 3.0', is a software related to? A) Agriculture B) Defence C) Women Safety D) Skill Development 7. Which state's Chief Minister has launched 'Single Click Pension Delivery' scheme? A) Gujarat B) Madhya Pradesh C) Rajasthan D) Maharashtra 8. Who has won his sixth straight title at National Motorcycle Racing Championship? A) Rajiv Sethu B) Mathana Kumar C) Jagan Kumar D) Anish Shetty 9. Which F1 racer won the Malaysian Grand Prix 2017? A) Lewis Hamilton B) Sebastian Vettel C) Max Verstappen D) Daniel Ricciardo 10. Who has become the first Indian woman to climb Mount Manaslu, the eighth highest mountain peak in the world? A) Aparna Kumar B) Smriti Nagpal C) Latika Gupta D) Anita Gava 11. Which state government has put in force 'No helmet, no petrol' rule for two-wheeler riders? A) Gujarat B) Rajasthan C) Andhra Pradesh D) Tamilnadu 12. Benghazi port, which opened after a period of 3 years, is located in which country? A) Tunisia B) Algeria C) Saudi Arabia D) Libya 13. Three U.S. scientists have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work on gravitational waves. Which of the following is not one of them? A) Rainer Weiss B) Jay Hannigan C) Kip Thorne D) Barry Barish 14. An underground water treatment plant was recently inaugurated in which state? A) Tripura B) Nagaland C) Mizoram D) Assam 15. Radhika Mohan Bhagawati, who recently passed away, was a veteran? A) Journalist B) Jurist C) Politician D) Activist 16. Who has been appointed to head the five-member OBC sub-categorization committee by President Ram Nath Kovind? A) G Rohini B) Nita Chowdhury C) Anita Agnihotri D) Gauri Kumar 17. Which country has opened its biggest overseas military base in Mogadishu? A) Turkey B) China C) Russia D) US 18. World Vegetarian Day was celebrated on which day? A) Oct 2 B) Oct 1 C) Oct 4 D) Oct 3 19. Ship MT New Prosperity carrying first shipment of US crude oil, reached which port of India? A) Kandla Port B) Haldia Port C) Chennai Port D) Paradip Port 20. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently inaugurated a bridge on which river between Durbuk and Daulat Beg Oldi in Leh Ladakh? A) Ravi B) Zanskar C) Shyok D) Chenab 21. What is the name of the Official Match Ball unveiled by Adidas for the 2017 FIFA Under 17 World Cup to be held in India? A) Brazuca B) Krasava C) Fevernova D) Tricolore 22. Government has changed the interest rates on small savings schemes, for October-December quarter, by? A) + 0.2% B) + 0.6% C) 0% D) - 0.5%

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23. Reliance Communications recently called off its merger with which company? A) Aircel B) Telenor C) Idea D) Tata Tele 24. Which of the following has been adjudged best ‘Swachh Iconic Place’ in India among 10 iconic places selected under the Swachh Bharath Mission? A) Golden Temple B) Ajmer Sharif Dargah C) Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple D) Sri Vaishno Devi temple 25. Hanumant Moreshwar Marathe, who recently passed away, was a veteran? A) Writer B) Politician C) Painter D) Social Activist 26. Environment minister Dr Harsh Vardhan recently unveiled the 3rd National Wildlife Action Plan for 2017-2031. The plan was drafted by a committee chaired by? A) NK Sheshadri B) MR Venkatesh C) Vineet Chandok D) JC Kala 27. Which country has floated out the world’s largest nuclear-powered icebreaker ship, named 'Sibir'? A) China B) US C) Russia D) Japan 28. Union Cabinet recently gave its approval for MoU with which country for upgradation of the Women’s Police Training Centre at Yamethin? A) Bhutan B) Sri Lanka C) Myanmar D) Cambodia 29. Who has been posthumously accorded with the prestigious Anna Politkovskaya Award? A) Gauri Lankesh B) Rajdev Ranjan C) Karun Misra D) MVN Shankar 30. Kundan Shah, who recently passed away, was a famous? A) Choreographer B) Writer C) Actor D) Director 31. Which of the following companies has been awarded the Golden Peacock Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance? A) Emiza Services B) Proconnect C) TAKE Solutions D) Bristlecone India 32. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan inaugurated first community toilet for the exclusive use of transgenders at? A) Gwalior B) Jabalpur C) Indore D) Bhopal 33. Which state government has approved the 'Mukhyamantri Samoohik Vivaah Yojana', a mass marriage scheme, wherein Rs 35,000 will be spent on each couple? A) Uttarakhand B) Haryana C) Rajasthan D) Uttar Pradesh 34. Which state government recently launched Mathru Poorna scheme? A) Telangana B) Kerala C) Karnataka D) Tamilnadu 35. Who bagged India's maiden gold medal at the World Wushu Championships being held at Kazan, Russia? A) Pooja Kadian B) Kavery Banerjee C) Meenal Jain D) Piyali Mehta 36. Who has been named as the event ambassador of the under-19 World Cup 2018? A) Corey Anderson B) Virat Kohli C) MS Dhoni D) Steve Smith 37. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is going to set up a research centre for start ups, academicians, environmentalists and entrepreneurs at? A) Raipur B) Indore C) Guwahati D) Coimbatore 38. Who has been appointed as the deputy director general of World Health Organisation (WHO)? A) Dr. Abraham Verghese B) Dr. Soumya Swaminathan C) Dr. Deepak Chopra D) Dr. Naresh Trehan 39. Purushottam Lal Kaushik, who recently passed away, was related to which field? A) Law B) Journalism C) Politics D) Medicine 40. Who has been named the new prime minister of Mongolia? A) Nambaryn Enkhbayar B) Jargaltulgiin Erdenebat C) Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat D) Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh 41. What is the name of the 20-day programme launched by Ministry of Tourism? A) Paryatan Parv B) Tourism Fair C) Paribhraman Abhiyan D) Tourism Carnival 42. October 4 -10 is observed every year as? A) World Health Week B) World Space Week C) World Arts Week D) World Sports Week

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43. What is the name of the 6-year project launched by Union environment ministry and UNDP for protection of Himalayan ecosystem? A) SAVE Himalaya B) PROTECT Himalaya C) SECURE Himalaya D) PRESERVE Himalaya 44. Three states recently signed an MoU to boost cultural ties under the 'Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat' programme. Which of the following is not one of them? A) Arunachal Pradesh B) Meghalaya C) Uttar Pradesh D) Odisha 45. Which state government is creating a 1.2 lakh acre land bank across the state for allocation to the industrial sector? A) Odisha B) Goa C) Bihar D) Chhattisgarh 46. Who has become the first Indian ever to win a European racing championship, by winning Boss GP held at Imola, Italy? A) Ameya Vaidyanathan B) Mahaveer Raghunathan C) Jehan Daruvala D) Arjun Maini 47. Which state has become the first to set up an Industrial Training Institute (ITI) exclusively for the differently-abled? A) Punjab B) Assam C) Telangana D) Kerala 48. Which state's cabinet approved the 'Mukhya Mantri Rural Road Repair Scheme' under MGNREGA? A) Punjab B) Uttar Pradesh C) Himachal Pradesh D) Uttarakhand 49. A temple with a 100 ft tall statue of PM Narendra Modi is going to be built in? A) Meerut B) Vadnagar C) Jhansi D) Varanasi 50. Jacqueline Fernandez has been named as the brand ambassador of which club for the upcoming season of the Indian Super League (ISL)? A) Mumbai City FC B) Delhi Dynamos FC C) Kerala Blasters FC D) NorthEast United FC 51. Centre has approved setting up a new centre to conserve turtles at? A) Mirzapur B) Ghazipur C) Kanpur D) Allahabad 52. SEBI appointed panel on corporate governance recently submitted its report. It was headed by? A) Aroon Puri B) Cyril Shroff C) Gopal Vittal D) Uday Kotak 53. In a first, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) India found a photo evidence of the snow leopard in? A) Sikkim B) Arunachal Pradesh C) Uttarakhand D) Jammu & Kashmir 54. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently inaugurated the golden jubilee year celebrations of? A) INBA B) ICSI C) ICWAI D) ICAI 55. Which institute has won the first 'Most Clean Campus Award 2017' instituted for Engineering Institutions by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)? A) Coimbatore Institute of Technology B) Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology C) Delhi College of Engineering D) Manipal Institute of Technology 56. Government has announced the issue of Sovereign Gold Bonds 2017-18 series-III. The investment limit per individual has been increased from 500 grams to? A) 1 kg B) 3 kg C) 4 kg D) 2 kg 57. Which state government has launched 'Solar Briefcase' programme, for providing off grid power in remote areas, funded by Hans foundation? A) Uttarakhand B) Rajasthan C) Maarashtra D) Andhra Pradesh 58. Who has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) to succeed Gajendra Chauhan? A) Akshay Kumar B) Prasoon Joshi C) Anupam Kher D) Ashok Pandit 59. Which state has recently banned chlorinated plastic and PVC with immediate effect? A) Himachal Pradesh B) Rajasthan C) Bihar D) Chhattisgarh 60. A parliamentary panel on external affairs, headed by whom, will examine Dokalam standoff and the Rohingya issue? A) Subramanian Swamy B) Kapil Sibal C) Shashi Tharoor D) Jairam Ramesh 61. Who has been appointed to head the high-level 5-member Committee constituted by MHA to study problems of border people on Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB) in J&K? A) Mandeep K Bhandari, B) Rina Mitra C) RK Goyal D) Baseer Khan

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62. Who has been appointed as the new president of the US-India Business Council (USIBC)? A) Kamala Harris B) Nisha Desai Biswal C) Vinita Jindal D) Pramila Jayapal 63. MoRTH has reconstituted a panel for approving proposals for use of new technologies, material and equipment. It is to be headed by? A) SR Tambe B) Vishal Saluja C) Ranjeet Basu D) NG Kakkad 64. What is the name of India's first-ever portal dedicated to para sportspersons? A) thenationspride.com B) saluteindiasheroes.com C) celebratethewinners.com D) indiaschampions.com 65. Which Indian player has claimed the World Open Under-16 Snooker Championship title in the girls category, held at St. Petersburg, Russia? A) Anupama Ramachandran B) Haritha Gopal C) Keerthana Pandian D) Vishnupriya Reddy 66. Mera Hou Chongba festival was recently celebrated in? A) Mizoram B) Tripura C) Nagaland D) Manipur 67. Bismoy Kumar Mohanty, who recently passed away, was a noted? A) Advocate B) Politician C) Journalist D) Actor 68. Who headed the Haj Committee which recently submitted its report to Ministry of Minority Affairs? A) Qaiser Shamim B) S.S. Parkar C) Afzal Amanullah D) Kamal Faruqui 69. Who has been appointed to head the group of ministers (GoM) set up to make the composition scheme more attractive and to revisit the GST rates on restaurants? A) Haseeb Drabu B) Sushil Modi C) Himanta Biswa Sarma D) Manpreet Singh Badal 70. Who is the author of the novel 'Sugandhi Enna Andal Devanayaki' which has been chosen for Vayalar Ramavarma Literary Prize? A) Anil Kumar B) Thomas Mathew C) K.P. Mohanan D) T.D. Ramakrishnan 71. Who has been conferred the ‘Cross of the Order of Merit’, the highest civilian honour awarded by Germany? A) Sunil Arora B) Sanjay Kumar C) Rajesh Nath D) Ajit Mahesh 72. Who has been appointed by the Supreme Court, as the Amicus Curiae or impartial adviser, to examine the scope for re-investigating Mahatma Gandhi's assassination in 1948? A) Amrendra Sharan B) L Nageswara Rao C) S A Bobde D) Pankaj Phadnis 73. Which of the following is the first tribal dominant district in Rajasthan which has become Open Defecation Free (ODF)? A) Baran B) Sirohi C) Jhunjhunu D) Dungarpur 74. PM Narendra Modi recently launched Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) under the Skill India scheme. It seeks to train 6 crore students till? A) March 2019 B) March 2018 C) March 2020 D) March 2021 75. Which airport is set to be become India's first Aadhaar-enabled airport by 2018? A) Mumbai B) Hyderabad C) Delhi D) Bengaluru 76. Which city is going to get India's first marine police training and research institute? A) Bhubaneswar B) Panaji C) Vizag D) Dwarka 77. 44th edition of Indian Handicrafts and Gifts Fair, the world's largest B2B handicraft and gifts fair, was recently held at? A) Greater Noida B) Chandigarh C) Jaipur D) Ranchi 78. Who has been honoured with ' Vayoshreshtha Samman', the National Award for senior citizens by President Ramnath Kovind? A) Gurbax Singh Sandhu B) S. M. Arif C) Ramakant Achrekar D) Satpal Singh 79. Which of the following Indian Naval Ships are visiting Sasebo in Japan to take part in Passage Exercise (PASSEX)? 1. INS Talwar 2. INS Ganga 3. INS Satpura 4. INS Kadmatt A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4

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80. IMF has slashed India's GDP growth forecast for 2017 from 7.2% to? A) 6.9% B) 6.7% C) 7% D) 7.1% 81. Who has become the first female referee to officiate a match at the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 at a match held at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata? A) Bibiana Steinhaus B) Kari Seitz C) Esther Staubli D) Christine Baitinger 82. Who has been chosen for the Mathrubhumi Literary Award for 2016? A) M. T. Vasudevan Nair B) N. S. Madhavan C) M K Sanu D) Paul Zacharia 83. With which country did Indian Railways sign a joint declaration of Intent for increasing the speed of passenger trains to 200 kmph? A) Germany B) Japan C) China D) US 84. Which of the following has launched a mobile health App named 'MedWatch'? A) Indian Air Force B) Indian Medical Council C) AIIMS D) NITI Aayog 85. Which state has recently approved reservations for persons with disabilities in government jobs and educational institutions? A) Bihar B) Kerala C) Punjab D) Odisha 86. Week 9th to 14th October, 2017 has been celebrated by the government to promote which scheme? A) Beti Bachao Beti Padhao B) Swachh Bharat C) UDAN D) Ujala 87. Which state government has launched a web portal named ‘MahaLabharthi', to help people get information about all the government schemes? A) Andhra Pradesh B) Maharashtra C) Jharkhand D) Kerala 88. What is India's rank out of 119 countries ranked on the Global Hunger Index by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)? A) 72 B) 100 C) 113 D) 86 89. Who is going to head the commission being constituted to recommend a new salary structure for Judges of lower courts? A) VN Khare B) P Sathasivam C) Kurian Joseph D) PV Reddi 90. Who has been appointed as the new Director-General of UNESCO? A) Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari B) Audrey Azoulay C) Irina Bokova D) Frauke Petry 91. Which of the following World Bank backed, skill development schemes have been approved by the Cabinet? 1. SAMARTH 2. SAMRIDDHI 3. STRIVE 4. SANKALP A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4 92. Which state government has announced ration cards for nomadic tribes living across the state? A) Assam B) Chhattisgarh C) Jharkhand D) Haryana 93. In a first, which country has announced to grant full citizenship in exchange for 44 bitcoin? A) Samoa B) Nauru C) Tuvalu D) Vanuatu 94. Birsa Munda Tribal University has been inaugurated in which state? A) Odisha B) Jharkhand C) Chhattisgarh D) Gujarat 95. Who is the inspiration of the documentary titled "An Insignificant Man", which has been released recently? A) Arvind Kejriwal B) Manohar Parrikar C) Narendra Modi D) Rahul Gandhi 96. Which state has launched Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana for farmers that aims to cushion them from price crashes? A) Maharashtra B) Andhra Pradesh C) Madhya Pradesh D) Uttar Pradesh 97. Which High Court ruled that retail wine shops and bars in scheduled area villages be permitted only after gram sabha's consent? A) Madras B) Calcutta C) Hyderabad D) Bombay 98. Who is going to be conferred with the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration for 2015-16? A) T M Krishna B) Sanjay Subrahmanyan C) P. Unnikrishnan D) Jayendra Panchapakesan

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99. What is the name of the project launched by Agriculture Ministry to boost the horticulture sector by using remote sensing technology and likely to be completed by March? A) VARDHAN B) CHAMAN C) BAGH D) KRISHI 100. Richard Wilbur, who recently passed away, was a famous? A) Astrophysicist B) Poet C) Activist D) Cyclist 101. Who has won the Man Booker Prize for 2017 for his novel "Lincoln in the Bardo"? A) David Foster Wallace B) Jonathan Franzen C) Dave Eggers D) George Saunders 102. What is the name of the online campaign launched by MoWCD to end gender bias in women against women? A) #IamThatWoman B) #WomenForWomen C) #UniteWeFight D) #SecureWeStand 103. Who heads the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, which will examine the operational preparedness of the armed forces and review the accidents involving strategic defence assets? A) Janardan Mishra B) Daddan Mishra C) Ajay Tamta D) B C Khanduri 104. Who has become the first Indian woman to sign with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)? A) Geeta Devi B) Kavita Devi C) Bindu Singh D) Garima Singh 105. In a first, which state has announced to set up a scheduled caste advisory council? A) Bihar B) Odisha C) Kerala D) West Bengal 106. First ever All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), was inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi on 'Ayurveda Day' on October 17, in? A) Kochi B) Pune C) New Delhi D) Coimbatore 107. Haryana government recently approved to rename which village to Abhimanyupur? A) Amin B) Beersika C) Dewarhu D) Atali 108. Who has resigned from his post of Solicitor-General of India? A) Ram Jethmalani B) Harish Salve C) Ranjit Kumar D) KK Venugopal 109. Which of the following has been created as the 23rd district of Arunachal Pradesh, by bifurcating Upper and Lower Subansiri districts? A) Namtok B) Kamle C) Pasighat D) Diyun 110. Which state has approved the State Startup Mission’s proposal to allow teachers to take a sabbatical leave and start their own startups along with students? A) Maharashtra B) Kerala C) Gujarat D) Punjab 111. Who has been elected as the youngest woman Prime Minister of New Zealand? A) Helen Clark B) Jacinda Ardern C) Jenny Shipley D) Julie Anne Genter 112. Which of the following airports have been ranked among the best aerodromes in the world in the 2-5 million passengers per annum category by the Airport Council International (ACI)? 1. Patna 2. Bhubaneswar 3. Jaipur 4. Srinagar A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4 113. Ines Rau, has become the first transgender model to feature on which magazine? A) Esquire B) Maxim C) GQ D) Playboy 114. Which of the following has been chosen as the partner country at the 23rd Tech Summit to be held in New Delhi, and organised by CII and the Indian Department of Science and Technology (DST)? A) Germany B) Canada C) Spain D) Australia 115. Which institute has been ranked 34th among 400 Asian universities and best in India as per the 2018 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) University Rankings for Asia? A) IIT Bombay B) IIT Delhi C) IIT Madras D) IISc Bangalore 116. Which of the following recently organised 'Jashn-e-Breng' festival in Kokernag village of the Anantnag district, to promote peace and brotherhood between security forces and the locals? A) Rashtriya Rifles B) Border Security Force C) Central Reserve Police Force D) Sashastra Seema Bal

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117. Who has topped the Forbes list of Europe's Highest-Paid Celebrities Of 2017? A) Roger Federer B) Adele C) Critiano Ronaldo D) JK Rowling 118. Which airport has bagged the World 1 airport Award trophy of the Airports Council International (ACI) in the 5-15 million passengers per annum category? A) Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport B) Rajiv Gandhi International Airport C) Kempegowda International Airport D) Indira Gandhi International Airport 119. Centre has given green clearance for a greenfield airport project, at a cost of over Rs 1,400 crore, at Hirasar located in? A) Rajasthan B) Bihar C) Gujarat D) Odisha 120. President of the African Development Bank Akinwumi Adesina, who won the 2017 World Food Prize, hails from? A) Mozambique B) Ghana C) Zimbabwe D) Nigeria 121. Which state government restored the special family pension for the widows of Government employees killed by extremists? A) Jharkhand B) Jammu & Kashmir C) Punjab D) Chhattisgarh 122. Which state government has directed to avoid usage of words "Dalit", "Harijan" and "Keezhalar" in its official communications? A) Kerala B) Bihar C) Telangana D) Haryana 123. Which state government has launched a new tourism policy, with Priyanka Chopra as its brand ambassador? A) Manipur B) Sikkim C) Assam D) Meghalaya 124. Which of the following has won the ‘green platinum award’ by Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), during the Green Building Congress-2017 at Jaipur? A) Govardhan Eco Village, ISKCON B) Ananda in the Himalayas C) Parmarth Niketan D) OSHO Foundation 125. ADB has signed a $65.5 million loan agreement to support coastal protection in which state? A) Karnataka B) Goa C) Gujarat D) Kerala 126. Which state is going to be the first in India to provide paying guest (PG) facility for the cattle? A) Rajasthan B) Punjab C) Uttar Pradesh D) Haryana 127. Indian Naval ship Sukanya is participating in 30th edition of CORPAT (Coordinated Patrol) with which country? A) Sri Lanka B) Malaysia C) Indonesia D) Singapore 128. Which country opened world’s first ever 3D-printed concrete bridge? A) Spain B) Germany C) Netherlands D) France 129. Which state government has announced to have doubled the ex-gratia amount given to the kin of policemen killed on duty to Rs 50 lakh? A) Punjab B) Uttar Pradesh C) Tamilnadu D) Bihar 130. Which rebellion, that took place in 1817, has been named by the HRD Ministry as 'the First War of Independence' from the next academic session? A) Santhal Rising B) Chuar Uprising C) Sanyasi Revolt D) Paika Rebellion 131. ‘Gangadhar Meher Lift Canal System’ is Rs 1246 crores lift irrigation project in Bijepur, which has recently approved by which state cabinet? A) Uttar Pradesh B) Odisha C) Madhya Pradesh D) Rajasthan 132. Which state is going to be the 'Focus State' in the World Food India (WFI) 2017 to be held at New Delhi from November 3 to 5? A) Odisha B) Maharashtra C) Andhra Pradesh D) Manipur 133. In a first, which Asian country now has the most powerful passport in the world as per the Passport Index of Arton Capital? A) China B) Singapore C) Japan D) South Korea 134. Who has been named Fifa men’s player of the year 2017? A) Cristiano Ronaldo B) Neymar C) Lionel Messi D) Zlatan Ibrahimović

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135. Which of the following has commenced execution of Rs20,400 crore Yadadri supercritical thermal power project at Telangana? A) NTPC B) BEL C) BHEL D) Powegrid 136. The dental clinic at which prison has been named after Aarushi Talwar? A) Agra B) Mandoli C) TIhar D) Dasna 137. As per a recent directive by Centre, toilets in the rural areas will now be called as? A) House of Pride B) House of Cleanliness C) House of Dignity D) House of Respect 138. Asian Development Bank has signed a $300 million loan to continue a series of fiscal reforms to improve the quality of public service delivery in which state? A) Haryana B) Telangana C) West Bengal D) Karnataka 139. Which country has become the first to grant citizenship to a robot, named Sophia? A) China B) US C) Germany D) Saudi Arabia 140. Which state's Chief Minister recently laid the foundation stone for an aerospace park worth Rs 198 crore? A) Uttar Pradesh B) Gujarat C) Tamilnadu D) Assam 141. Which team won their third Asia Cup hockey title after 10-years, held in Dhaka? A) Sri Lanka B) India C) Pakistan D) Malaysia 142. Who has been appointed as Centre's interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir? A) Ravindra Verma B) Dineshwar Sharma C) Navin Sahu D) Kuldeep Singh 143. India's first Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK) for Skilling in smart cities was inaugurated by Home Minister Rajnath Singh in? A) Kolkata B) Hyderabad C) New Delhi D) Bengaluru 144. What is the name of the Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) commissioned recently into Sri Lankan navy, provided by India? A) Suraksha B) Shreshth C) Samudra Raksha D) Srisena 145. What is the rank of Virat Kohli on Forbes list of athletes with top brand value? A) 7th B) 4th C) 18th D) 23rd 146. Indo-Tibetan Border Police recently celebrated its 56th raising day on? A) Oct 25 B) Oct 21 C) Oct 24 D) Oct 26 147. Which country has recently signed the Paris Climate Agreement, leaving only US and Syria that are not a part of the accord? A) Vanuatu B) Nicaragua C) Tonga D) Cuba 148. Which High Court banned the use of pictures of living persons on banners and hoardings in the state? A) Delhi B) Bombay C) Madras D) Calcutta 149. Who has been appointed as the MD & CEO of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB)? A) Neeraj Chand B) AP Singh C) Suresh Sethi D) Ranjeet Kumar 150. Which Indian shuttler won the men's singles title at Denmark Open? A) Ajay Jayaram B) Sai Praneeth C) Kidambi Srikanth D) HS Prannoy 151. Which company has won ‘Dun & Bradstreet – Everest Infra Awards 2017’ under Infrastructure Project category for commissioning India's largest solar project at Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh? A) Welspun Energy B) Tata Power Solar C) Reliance Power D) Adani Power 152. Which government recently unveiled new food processing policy for attracting investments to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore? A) Chhattisgarh B) Assam C) Haryana D) Telangana 153. Researchers from which country have discovered the most ancient spiral galaxy, known as A1689B11, which is believed to exist 11 billion years ago? A) Australia B) China C) India D) Germany 154. India recently commenced the 13-day joint military exercise SAMPRITI-7 in Meghalaya and Mizoram, with which country? A) Sri Lanka B) Bangladesh C) Nepal D) Myanmar

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155. Which state government has decided to draw up a trauma care programme to ensure free treatment of road accident victims for the first 48 hours of being admitted to the hospitals? A) Kerala B) Madhya Pradesh C) Bihar D) Odisha 156. Actor Vettoor Purushan, who recently passed away, was primarily associated with which film industry? A) Malayalam B) Tamil C) Kannada D) Telugu 157. Who has been appointed Special Secretary in the commerce ministry? A) Manas Singh B) Binoy Kumar C) Ankur Bajpai D) Pradeep Tyagi 158. Which company has become India's first company to hold a meeting of its Board of Directors at high sea? A) ONGC B) OICL C) HPCL D) BPCL 159. In a first in India, which company has come up with insurance cover for individual victims of cyber crime? A) ICICI Lombard B) Cholamandalam MS C) Bajaj Allianz D) Iffco Tokio 160. As per CBDT, Upto how much amount of cash sales of the agricultural produce can be exempted from tax under the Income Tax Act? A) Rs 3 lakh a day B) Rs 1 lakh a day C) Rs 2 lakh a day D) Rs 4 lakh a day 161. India signed a loan agreement for the “Odisha Higher Education Programme for Excellence & Equity (OHEPEE) Project”, with the World Bank for? A) $220 million B) $198 million C) $310 million D) $119 million 162. “FIPSPHYSIOCON 2017” international conference, organised by Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Science (DIPAS) of DRDO, was recently held at? A) Chennai B) Hyderabad C) Bengaluru D) New Delhi 163. Chinese parliament has formally extended a law banning disrespect of the national anthem to? A) Hong Kong B) Macau C) Taiwan D) A & B 164. On which river did Nepal inaugurate a Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) bridge built with India's financial assistance at Jomsom in Mustang district? A) Tamur B) Bhote C) Trishuli D) Kaligandaki 165. World Tsunami Awareness Day was recently observed by UN office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), on? A) Nov 5 B) Nov 3 C) Nov 7 D) Nov 1 166. Which nation successfully tested an indigenously developed light weight 'Glide' bomb, named SAAW (Smart Anti Airfield Weapon)? A) North Korea B) Japan C) India D) Israel 167. Where have the scientists discovered a new species of Orangutans and have also declared them as the world's most endangered great ape? A) Indonesia B) Peru C) India D) South Africa 168. Which bank has received RBI approval to operate as Scheduled Commercial Bank? A) Ujjivan Small Finance Bank B) AU Small Finance Bank C) Disha Small Finance Bank D) Equitas Small Finance Bank 169. Which state's Chief Minister has announced to launch a second phase of organic movement? A) Manipur B) Sikkim C) Meghalaya D) Tripura 170. Government recently signed an MoU with Patanjali Ayurveda of? A) Rs 10, 000 Crore B) Rs 20, 000 Crore C) Rs 15, 000 Crore D) Rs 5,000 Crore 171. What is the name of the typhoon that hit Vietnam recently? A) Utor B) Haiyan C) Damrey D) Nesat 172. Which sports organization's Executive Committee has voted to provisionally suspend its President Ching-Kuo Wu? A) BWF B) FIBA C) AIBA D) IAAF 173. What is the name of the Investor Facilitation Portal launched during World Food India 2017? A) Nivesh Vistaar B) Nidhi Pragati C) Nidhi Prabandhak D) Nivesh Bandhu

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174. Which Indian golfer clinched the Fatima Bin Mubarak Ladies Open held in Abu Dhabi? A) Gauri Monga B) Vani Kapoor C) Aditi Ashok D) Kishi Sinha 175. International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict' was observed on? A) Nov 7 B) Nov 4 C) Nov 6 D) Nov 2 176. Dina Wadia, who recently passed away, was the daughter of? A) Ayub Khan B) Muhammad Ali Jinnah C) Liaquat Ali Khan D) Muhammad Iqbal 177. Which Indian golfer won the Panasonic Open held at New Delhi? A) Chiragh Kumar B) Shiv Kapur C) S.S.P. Chawrasia D) Ajeetesh Sandhu 178. Who has been elected as the first woman mayor of Gurugram? A) Pramila Kablana B) Sunita Yadav C) Chanda Meena D) Madhu Azad 179. First Heli Expo India and International Civil Helicopter Conclave-2017 was inaugurated in? A) Dehradun B) Lucknow C) New Delhi D) Bhopal 180. Who has become the first woman to be appointed as senior Deputy Director General, Tamil Nadu, Telecom Enforcement Resource Monitoring, DOT? A) N Poonguzhali B) A Manju C) T Gopisetty D) Somyashree P 181. Which country has become the newest member of International Solar Alliance (ISA)? A) Senegal B) Guinea C) Sierra Leone D) Ghana 182. As per IATA, which nation's domestic aviation sector grew the fastest at 15.5%, in September? A) India B) Australia C) China D) US 183. Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev has announced to replace the name of the country to Latin script's Qazaqstan by 2025. Present name 'Kazakhstan' is written in which script? A) Hangul B) Demotic C) Soyombo D) Cyrillic 184. US has approved $1.1 billion sale to which country of support services and facilities for its F- 15QA fighter aircraft program? A) Pakistan B) Israel C) Iran D) Qatar 185. A Nobel Memorial Wall has been inaugurated at which metro station? A) MG Road, Bengaluru B) Andheri Mumbai C) Rajiv Chowk, Delhi D) Egmore, Chennai 186. Which city won the 'best city bus service' at the Best Urban Transport Practices awards during urban mobility conference-cum-exhibition held in Hyderabad? A) Surat B) Kochi C) Mysuru D) Panaji 187. As per Communications Minister Manoj Sinha, India Posts Payments Bank services are expected to be available across the country by? A) Apr 2018 B) Dec 2017 C) Jul 2018 D) Dec 2018 188. Which women's hockey team won the Asia Cup 2017? A) Malyasia B) India C) Pakistan D) China 189. Which temple has won the UNESCO Asia Pacific Award of Merit 2017 for cultural heritage conservation? A) Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple B) Natraj Temple C) Meenakshi Temple D) Arunachaleswar Temple 190. Which Indian pair won the bronze medal in doubles at the 2017 Challenge Belgium Open Table Tennis tournament? A) Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan B) G Sathiyan and Sanil Shetty C) Praveen K and G Sathiyan D) Sanil Shetty and Sharath Kamal 191. Who has taken charge as General Manager, Southern Railway? A) Santhosh B B) R K Kulshrestha C) Shyam Sarkar D) Pavan Yadav 192. Which state government has signed an MoU with Verbind to set up a logistics and trading hub, worth Rs 20,000 crore? A) Odisha B) Chhattiagarh C) Haryana D) Tamilnadu

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193. Which company has set up India’s largest Coke Dry Quenching (CDQ) facility at the Kalinganagar, Odisha? A) L&T B) Jindal Steel C) SAIL D) Tata Steel 194. Which bank has become the first to launch a voicebased an international money transfer service using Apple's Siri through its Money2India app? A) Yes Bank B) ICICI Bank C) Axis Bank D) HDFC Bank 195. Which company is going to shut down its voice call service from December 1? A) Aircel B) Telenor C) Vodafone D) RCom 196. The two-day conference of 'Ministers for Power and New & Renewable Energy of States & Union Territories' is going to be held in? A) Sarnath B) Kushinagar C) Rajgir D) Gaya 197. What is the name of the AI bot who has been made an official resident of a district in Tokyo? A) Shibuya Mirai B) Yasushi Sasae C) Katshukio Kawai D) Makino Akashi 198. Which nation launched Asia's biggest island-building dredger ship, named 'Tiankun'? A) Singapore B) India C) Japan D) China 199. How many schemes have been rolled out by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal worth Rs 24.57 crore for development of Majuli? A) 468 B) 794 C) 647 D) 512 200. Which bank has signed an agreement with the government to provide Rs 1,000 crore financing for food processing projects? A) ICICI Bank B) IndusInd bank C) Yes Bank D) Axis Bank 201. Who is going to chair the newly reconstituted Inter- State Council, mandated to investigate and advise on disputes between states? A) Arun Jaitley B) Nirmala Sitharaman C) Rajnath Singh D) Narendra Modi 202. Indian Army recently launched a Joint Training Node (JTN) in which cantonment in Meghalaya? A) Umroi B) Mhow C) Shillong D) Nagrota 203. Sonepur mela or 'Kshetra Mela', which is one of the biggest cattle fair in Asia, recently commenced in? A) Uttar Pradesh B) Madhya Pradesh C) BiharQ D) Rajasthan 204. Who has been appointed as the new Finance Secretary? A) Rajiv Gauba B) Hasmukh Adhia C) Rajiv Mehrishi D) Ashok Lavasa 205. How much amount has HSBC promised for lowcarbon technology and sustainable development by 2025? A) $250 billion B) $200 billion C) $100 billion D) $150 billion 206. Festival 'Bali Jatra' which began recently, is held on the banks of? A) Mahanadi B) Godavari C) Krishna D) Tungbhadra 207. Who won the 'Saksham Pedal Delhi' Cyclothon in the the Elite Men's (45 km) and Elite Women's (27 km) category repectively? A) T Manorama Devi and Keshav Kumar B) Keshav Kumar and Kavita Devi C) Kavita Devi and Satbir Singh D) Satbir Singh and T Manorama Devi 208. Who has been named ambassador of the AIBA Women's Youth World Championships 2017 to be held in Guwahati? A) Laishram Sarita Devi B) M C Mary Kom C) Sarjubala Devi D) Kavita Chahal 209. Seven commodities have been granted GI tag this fiscal year by the Indian patent office. Chakshesang shawl belongs to which state? A) Sikkim B) Jammu & Kashmir C) Nagaland D) Meghalaya 210. Whose appointment as the next US ambassador to India has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate? A) Kenneth Juster B) Paul Wolfowitz C) Michael Ratney D) Atul Keshap 211. Which nation has launched two BeiDou-3 satellites in a bid to build its own navigation system? A) Italy B) China C) Germany D) Russia

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212. India-Nepal Folk Crafts Festival recently began in? A) Kathmandu B) New Delhi C) Patan D) Kanpur 213. Which of the following has been named 'Airline of the Year 2018' by AirlineRatings.com for the fifth year in a row? A) Virgin Australia B) Singapore Airlines C) Air New Zealand D) Qantas 214. Which management institute inaugurated an Israel Centre at its campus? A) IIM-C B) IIM-B C) IIM-L D) IIM-A 215. How many medals did India win at the Commonwealth Shooting Championships held in Australia? A) 15 B) 20 C) 25 D) 10 216. Which actor has received the Vishnudas Bhave award for his contribution to theatre? A) Sanjay Mishra B) Piyush Mishra C) Girish Karnad D) Mohan Joshi 217. Department of Post recently issued stamps with the photos of which of the following signature dishes of hyderabad? A) Biryani B) Baghare baingan C) Seviyan D) All of the Above 218. Government announced to have taken up projects worth how much amount for financial assistance under the Coastal Berth Scheme of the Sagarmala programme ? A) Rs 4,447 crore B) Rs 3,846 crore C) Rs 2,302 crore D) Rs 5,263 crore 219. Who has been appointed to head the committee formed to examine a proposal for merger of loss making district central cooperative banks with the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank? A) Saurabh Dixit B) Yashwant Thorat C) Deepak Shukla D) Sunil Sharma 220. Chennupati Kodanda Ramaiah has been conferred with Bharat Gaurav award by India International Friendship Society (IIFS). He is the dean of which university? A) Pondicherry University B) Kerala University C) Anna University D) Calicut University 221. 4th Joint Working Group on Aircraft Carrier Technology Cooperation (JWGACTC), under the Indo US Defence Trade and Technology Initiative, was recently held at? A) Chandigarh B) New Delhi C) Hyderabad D) Mumbai 222. India has pledged towards the UN partnership fund, an additional amount of? A) USD 200 million B) USD 250 million C) USD 100 million D) USD 150 million 223. Railway Protection Force (RPF) of which zone has developed and introduced a mobile application, 'Eyewatch Railways', for the security of women commuters? A) Northern B) Central C) Southern D) Western 224. Which company has announced the roll-out of a new messaging platform called 'Inbox'? A) Freecharge B) Paytm C) Mobikwik D) Tez 225. Who will head the multi-agency group which will investigate the Paradise Paper case? A) Vikas Punia B) Ranjan Lal C) Sushil Chandra D) Ajay Narayan Jha 226. As per Nomura, India's current account deficit (CAD) for financial year 2017-18 is expected to be around? A) $55 billion B) $25 billion C) $70 billion D) $40 billion 227. Who has been appointed as the new Chief Secretary of Puducherry? A) Manoj Parida B) S N Sahai C) Ashwani Kumar D) Narendra Kumar 228. Which union minister attended the five-day World Youth Forum held in Sharam El Shiekh, Egypt? A) Kiren Rijiju B) Vijay Goel C) Rajyavardhan Rathore D) Prakash Javdekar 229. The two-day coastal security exercise 'Sagar Kavach' began in? A) Andhra Pradesh B) Goa C) Gujarat D) Tamilnadu 230. As per Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar, the foundation for freedom from six problems -- poverty, dirt, corruption, terrorism, casteism and communalism - will be laid for a New India by? A) 2020 B) 2025 C) 2018 D) 2022 231. United Nations climate change conference recently began at? A) Bonn B) Geneva C) Paris D) Lausanne

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232. World's highest motorable road has been constructed at a height of over 19,300 feet in which country? A) India B) Switzerland C) China D) Russia 233. Which city is going to host the first edition of Table Tennis Super League-Tamilnadu? A) Coimbatore B) Chennai C) Madurai D) Tiruchirappalli 234. World's longest living dolphin in captivity, Nana, recently died in an aquarium in which country? A) Malaysia B) Japan C) Thailand D) Singapore 235. Railway ministry has announced to install Aadhaarbased biometric attendance system across all zones and divisions by? A) Mar 2018 B) Dec 2017 C) Jan 2018 D) Dec 2018 236. Who has been appointed as Additional Director General of the Border Security Force? A) Hemant Saini B) Nasir Kamal C) Dinesh Kumar D) Shaurya Jha 237. A five-ship Indian naval training flotilla - INS Tir, INS Sujata, INS Sudarshini, INS Shardul and ICGS Sarathi, visited which country recently? A) Singapore B) Bangladesh C) Malaysia D) Sri Lanka 238. Which union minister launched Deen Dayal SPARSH (Scholarship for Promotion of Aptitude and Research in Stamps as a Hobby) Yojana, a scholarship program for children to increase the reach of Philately? A) Prakash Javadekar B) KJ Alphons C) Mahesh Sharma D) Manoj Sinha 239. Saad al-Hariri recently quit as the Prime Minister of? A) Turkey B) Syria C) Jordan D) Lebanon 240. Baddam Narsimha Reddy, who recently passed away, was an MP from Miryalaguda constituency in? A) Karnataka B) Andhra Pradesh C) Tamilnadu D) Telangana 241. As per RBI, India's foreign exchange reserves have fallen down to? A) $398.76 billion B) $324.19 billion C) $416.83 billion D) $276.32 billion 242. Indian Railways has launched the main arch of the world's highest bridge on which river? A) Ravi B) Chenab C) Jhelum D) Beas 243. RBI has directed corporate borrowers having exposure of Rs 5 crore and above to mandatorily obtain Legal Entity Identifier (LEI). LEI is a number containing how many digits? A) 10 B) 15 C) 18 D) 20 244. Which mobile wallet has integrated BHIM UPI onto its platform? A) Paytm B) Itzcash C) Mobikwik D) Oxigen 245. Which company has tied up with Microsoft to build a new connected car platform for automobile firms? A) Zoomcar B) Ola C) Meru D) Uber 246. Which state recently passed an amendment to the Prevention of Dangerous Activities Act? A) Chhattisgarh B) Telangana C) Uttarakhand D) Andhra Pradesh 247. Which Dubai based bank has started operations in India by inaugurating a branch in Mumbai? A) Commercial Bank of Dubai B) Mashreq Bank C) El Nilein Bank D) Emirates NBD 248. International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) has approved soft loans for phase 4 of the North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project for Upland Areas (NERCORMP) worth? A) USD 40 million B) USD 30 million C) USD 20 million D) USD 50 million 249. Which union ministry recently organized a two-day national workshop ‘Chintan Shivir’ in New Delhi? A) Agriculture and Farmers Welfare B) Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions C) Drinking Water and Sanitation D) Human Resource Development 250. Which organization has been named as the recipient of the Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice, 2017 by Harmony Foundation? A) Human Rights First B) UNHCR C) Human Rights Foundation D) Amnesty International

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251. Who is the author of the report released by Economic Research Department of State Bank of India? A) Yousuf Saqib B) Satyajeet Kumar Gupta C) Soumya Kanti Ghosh D) Adeeb Pathan 252. A committee headed by whom, has started a review of the laws governing goods and services tax (GST)? A) Ashish Bhatt B) Pavan Kumar Bhaskar C) M Vinod Kumar D) Adarsh K Nandan 253. NITI Aayog and Proffer recently organized a four-day Blockchain summit and hackathon at? A) IIT-Roorkee B) IIT-Kharagpur C) IIT-Bombay D) IIT-Delhi 254. RBI has asked banks to provide doorstep banking facilities to differently-abled persons and senior citizens aged more than? A) 60 years B) 65 years C) 70 years D) 72 years 255. What is the name of the India’s first co-working space which has been launched recently in Delhi NCR? A) ComeCollaborate B) GrowTogethe C) InnovationHub D) WorkoLab 256. IRDA has made it mandatory for companies to link Aadhaar with every individual policy. Who is the chairperson of IRDAI? A) Hemant Contractor B) Ajay Tyagi C) T.S.Vijayan D) R. S. Sharma 257. Which state has declared Urdu as the second official language? A) Kerala B) West Bengal C) Karnataka D) Telangana 258. DIPP has recently signed an MoU to set up India's 2nd Technology and Innovation Support Centre (TISC) at Chennai with which university? A) Anna University B) University of Madras C) Annamalai University D) SRM University 259. Which company has been conferred with 21st Asia Insurance Industry Awards in the 'General Insurance Company of the Year' category? A) Apollo Munich Health Insurance B) Future Generali India Insurance C) Bajaj Allianz General Insurance D) National Insurance 260. Which ministry has expanded its online complaint management system called "Sexual Harassment electronic-Box (SHe-Box)'? A) Women and Child Development B) Labour and Employment C) Electronics and Information Technology D) Law and Justice 261. Which of the following is the anthem released for the 2017 AIBA youth women’s World boxing championship to be held at Guwahati? A) Make Some Noise B) The Time of Our Lives C) Sign of a Victory D) Magic in the Air 262. Minister of State for Tourism Alphons Kannanthanam, has been elected to the Rajya Sabha from? A) Rajasthan B) Madhya Pradesh C) Kerala D) Karnataka 263. RBI has simplified the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) by putting all the amendments under one notification. The act has been amended how many times? A) 76 B) 102 C) 85 D) 93 264. Twitter has expanded the character count for display names on its platform to? A) 30 B) 50 C) 20 D) 40 265. Government has raised the home loan borrowing limit of a central government employee, as per the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, to? A) Rs 25 lakh B) Rs 30 lakh C) Rs 40 lakh D) Rs 15 lakh 266. Which bank has made online transactions through RTGS and NEFT free of cost from November 1? A) Yes Bank B) ICICI Bank C) Axis Bank D) HDFC Bank

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267. Indian Navy is going to use an advanced catapult-based aircraft launch mechanism (CATOBAR) for its second indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC-II). CATOBAR is the technology of? A) US B) Russia C) Israel D) France 268. Who has been elected the first Sikh mayor of Hoboken city of New Jersey in the US? A) Arjun Singh Sethi B) Jagmeet Singh C) Ravinder Singh Bhalla D) Gurbaksh Chahal 269. India has been re-elected as a member of the executive board of the? A) IFAO B) WIPO C) UNIDO D) UNESCO 270. As per a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit, which city has been adjudged the best to go digital among 45 cities worldwide? A) San Fransisco B) Tokyo C) Bengaluru D) Berlin 271. Legal Services Day was recently celebrated in India on? A) Nov 7 B) Nov 11 C) Nov 9 D) Nov 13 272. Price Stabilisation Fund Management Committee has allowed the state-owned agencies to import onion to stabilise the high prices. The committee is headed by? A) Avinash K Srivastava B) Gaurav Parmar C) Ashish Kaushik D) Ravinder Jain 273. Manu Sharma, who recently passed away, was a noted? A) Architect B) Author C) Politician D) Director 274. GST Council in its 23rd meeting at Guwahati, has reduced the number of items in the 28% tax bracket from 228 to? A) 50 B) 33 C) 74 D) 68 275. Which state government has signed an MoU with a training institute of the Art of Living Foundation for welfare of jail inmates? A) Karnataka B) Haryana C) Assam D) Jharkhand 276. Bank of China has inaugurated its first branch in Pakistan in? A) Islamabad B) Karachi C) Lahore D) Peshawar 277. Which state government is going to set up Village Climate Resilient Agriculture Management Committees (VCRMCs) in over 5,000 villages of 15 districts at a cost of Rs 4,000 crore? A) Uttar Pradesh B) Maharashtra C) Andhra Pradesh D) Madhya Pradesh 278. Third edition of Russian Film Days was recently held at? A) Hyderabad B) New Delhi C) Bengaluru D) Mumbai 279. French Novel "L’ordre du jour", written by Éric Vuillard has won the Prix Goncourt 2017. It is an account of the rise of? A) Benito Mussolini B) Kim Jong-un C) Saddam Hussein D) Adolf Hitler 280. Which state government has inked an MOU with Intel and UST Global? A) Rajasthan B) Telangana C) Kerala D) Odisha 281. Delhi government has signed a twin city agreement, called "Establishment of Friendship City Relationship" with? A) Seoul B) Milan C) Pretoria D) Osaka 282. Uttarakhand recently celebrated its Foundation Day. It was formed as 27th State of the Indian Union in? A) 1998 B) 2002 C) 2004 D) 2000 283. As per Unity Technologies, what is India's rank in global gaming installs? A) 3rd B) 7th C) 1st D) 11th 284. Which company has launched the ‘Grahak Sadak Koyla Vitaran App’? A) Bharat Coking Coal Ltd B) Central Coalfields Ltd C) Coal India Ltd D) Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd 285. As per the new amendment made to the regulations of IBBI, which of the following details of a resolution applicant, including promoters; will be considered by the committee of creditors before approving a resolution plan? A) Credit worthiness B) Antecedents C) Credibility D) All of the Above

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286. RBI has recently issued directions on managing risks and code of conduct in outsourcing of financial services by? A) SFBs B) MFIs C) NBFCs D) RRBs 287. What was the UN theme for World Science Day for Peace and Development, celebrated on Nov 10, 2017? (a) Science for Global Understanding B) Sharing Data, Knowledge and Innovations C) Ensuring a Sustainable Future for All D) Celebrating Science Centres and Science Museums 288. Astrosat' measured the X-ray polarisation of the Crab pulsar in the Taurus constellation. It is the space observatory of which country? A) NASA B) ISRO C) CNSA D) ESA 289. India recently tested which long range sub-sonic cruise missile, which can carry warheads of up to 300 kg? A) Prithvi B) Agni C) Nirbhay D) BrahMos 290. Which bank has received RBI approval for opening representative offices at Kuwait and Singapore? A) Kotak Mahindra Bank B) Dhanlaxmi Bank C) Catholic Syrian Bank D) Federal Bank 291. Government has notified the third tax avoidance protocol with which country? A) New Zealand B) Canada C) Norway D) Sweden 292. European Union has launched its Election Observation Mission for the upcoming elections in? A) Sri Lanka B) India C) Nepal D) Bangladesh 293. Who has been honoured with the 'Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2017' by ASSOCHAM, at the “One Day National Summit on Leadership Cum Awards 2017" held at Ranchi? A) G Priya Reddy B) Mohita Govind C) Sunita Kandpal D) Maya Swaminathan Sinha 294. Which bank has partnered with MobiKwik and Net1 to launch a co-branded virtual prepaid card on the Visa platform? A) IDFC Bank B) IndusInd Bank C) Federal Bank D) Karnataka Bank 295. Government has recently doubled the import duty on wheat to? A) 20% B) 40% C) 60% D) 50% 296. Which country has become the first to partner with Facebook on disaster response? A) Indonesia B) US C) Singapore D) India 297. Who won a gold medal in the Light Flyweight category, at the Asian Boxing Championships held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam? A) Laishram Sarita Devi B) M C Mary Kom C) Sarjubala Devi D) Kavita Chahal 298. Which team won the gold medal in the Women's 10m air rifle team event at the World Shooting Para Sport World Cup in Thailand ? A) Thailand B) China C) India D) Malaysia 299. Which state government has started a ‘She Pad’ scheme to ensure that girl students get access to free sanitary pads? A) Kerala B) Telangana C) Odisha D) Punjab 300. What is India's rank on the 'business optimism' index in the September quarter? A) 31st B) 23rd C) 16th D) 7th 301. Which organization has won the Champions of Change award under the category "Best Employer: CPSU" at the National Entrepreneurship Awards 2017? A) ONGC B) BHEL C) NTPC D) CIL 302. Who has been posthumously conferred with the Sumitra Charat Ram Award for Lifetime Achievement for 2017? A) Ustad Hussain Sayeeduddin Dagar B) Reema Lagoo C) Girija Devi D) Rais Khan

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303. Priti Patel recently resigned from Britain's Cabinet from her post of? A) Communities and Local Government Secretary B) International Development Secretary C) State for Justice Secretary D) Work and Pensions Secretary 304. 5th Nepal-India Oversight Mechanism was recently held at? A) Kathmandu B) New Delhi C) Lucknow D) Dehradun 305. Researchers have discovered a new species of ant, named Tyrannomyrmex alii, in? A) Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve B) Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve C) Nagarjunsagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve D) Periyar Tiger Reserve 306. As per a study by University of Maryland, which nation is going to become the world's top sulphur dioxide emitter? A) Phillippines B) China C) US D) India 307. The summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries was recently held in? A) Cambodia B) Philippines C) Vietnam D) Laos 308. Who inaugurated the 3-day Organic World Congress – 2017 organized at India Expo Centre in Greater Noida? A) M Venkaiah Naidu B) Ram Vilas Paswan C) Harsimrat Kaur Badal D) Radha Mohan Singh 309. Which Indian short film has won the Best Short Film Award at the South Asian Film Festival of Montreal (SAFFM)? A) Illusion B) The School Bag C) Kite...The Messenger D) Chutney 310. World Radiology Day was observed on? A) Nov 8 B) Nov 10 C) Nov 9 D) Nov 11 2nd India 311. International Cherry Blossom Festival was recently held in? A) Gangtok B) Imphal C) Shillong D) Agartala 312. Authorities in which city are going to shut down steel plants over the next five months in a bid to curb winter pollution? A) Delhi B) Islamabad C) Beijing D) Dhaka 313. Bombay High Court recently granted permission to a woman to abort her 25-week foetus with neuro abnormalities. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act does not allow abortions beyond the pregnancy of? A) 20 weeks B) 18 weeks C) 23 weeks D) 15 weeks 314. Who led the Indian delegation at the International Energy Agency (IEA) ministerial meeting held in Paris? A) Piyush Goyal B) Suresh Prabhu C) Dharmendra Pradhan D) R.K. Singh 315. Musa paramjitiana, which has been discovered in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, is the new species of? A) Mango B) Apple C) Banana D) Coconut 316. Which state government has announced to launch a campaign to organise village level sports tournaments in an effort to combat drug issue? A) Haryana B) Punjab C) Uttar Pradesh D) Goa 317. As per 2017 Top 100 City Destinations survey by Euromonitor International, which country is the most visited by International tourists? A) London B) Hong Kong C) Singapore D) New York 318. Which company has inked long-term pact with Bangladesh Power Development Board to supply electricity from its 1,600 MW plant at Godda in Jharkhand? A) Tata Power Solar B) Adani Power C) Welspun Energy D) Reliance Power 319. A new train, named 'Bandhan Express' was recently flagged off to run between West Bengal and? A) Myanmar B) Bangladesh C) Nepal D) China

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320. Which cab provider company has partnered with NASA to launch its flying car service in 2020? A) Ola B) hailo C) Lyft D) Uber 321. Karin Dor, who recently passed away, was a famous? A) Actor B) Fashion Designer C) Writer D) Politician 322. The first ever Nordic- Baltic youth film festival was recently held in? A) Hyderabad B) Mumbai C) New Delhi D) Lucknow 323. Which nation has scrapped a notification issued for inviting applications from NGOs for a grant of nearly $500,000 for projects promoting religious freedom in India? A) Bangladesh B) US C) China D) UK 324. Which city has been included in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network? A) Bengaluru B) Hyderabad C) New Delhi D) Chennai 325. Which digital payments company has announced the launch of its domestic operations in India? A) Western Union B) Paypal C) WebMoney D) Payoneer 326. Which bowler recently took two hat-tricks in a first class cricket match? A) Josh Hazlewood B) Peter Handscomb C) Mitchell Starc D) Travis Head 327. Who won the women’s and men's singles title respectively, at the 82nd senior National badminton championship? A) P.V. Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth B) Saina Nehwal and H.S. Prannoy C) P.V. Sindhu and B. Sai Praneeth D) Ashwini Ponnappa and Ajay Jayaram 328. Who has been awarded Israel’s 2018 Genesis Prize? A) Keira Knightley B) Charlize Theron C) Emma Stone D) Natalie Portman 329. Which state has become the first in India to treat Hepatitis-C patients through oral medicine? A) Haryana B) Karnataka C) Odisha D) Assam 330. Who is going to head the panel set up by Centre, to monitor and implement a Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to tackle Delhi's air pollution? A) A.P Hota B) C.K Mishra C) V.S Shinde D) P.L Sinha 331. SEBI has recently penalised how many entities with Rs 15 lakh fine for manipulative trading? A) 22 B) 15 C) 29 D) 8 332. Who has been appointed a whole-time member of SEBI? A) Praveen Rana B) Amit Nath C) Sanjeev Kaushik D) G Ananth Reddy 333. International AYUSH Conference and Exhibition 2017' with the theme of 'Lifestyle diseases: Prevention and management through AYUSH' was held at? A) New Delhi B) Kathmandu C) Dubai D) Dhaka 334. Which state government has approved a proposal to create a Village Development Board with an allocation of Rs 600 crore? A) Delhi B) Haryana C) Punjab D) Uttar Pradesh 335. Which organization recently conducted the largest ever National Achievement Survey (NAS)? A) KVS B) NCTE C) NIOS D) NCERT 336. Which city is going to host the 34th annual conference of the Asian Bankers Association (ABA), for the first time? A) Lucknow B) Hyderabad C) Mumbai D) Kochi 337. Who inaugurated the sixth China-India Forum meet, held at Bengaluru? A) Arun Jaitley B) Suresh Prabhu C) Siddaramaiah D) Sushma Swaraj 338. Scientists in which country have launched an app named "VegEze", aimed to improve vegetable consumption and diet quality? A) Australia B) US C) Canada D) Germany 339. NBCC has announced to complete the redevelopment of 10 railway stations with airport-like amenities by which year? A) 2020 B) 2018 C) 2022 D) 2019

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340. A.G. Milkha Singh, who recently passed away, was associated with which sport? A) Athletics B) Cricket C) Badminton D) Football 341. Researchers in which country have developed a new material that generates electricity from mechanical stress? A) India B) Switzerland C) China D) US 342. President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the 37th India International Trade Fair (IITF) at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. What is the theme of the event this year? A) Digital India B) Beti Bachao Beti Padhao C) Startup India: Stand Up India D) Swacch Bharat 343. Centre is working on adopting the land-pooling methodology as an alternative mechanism for development of airports. Till now it has been done in three states, which of the following is not one of them? A) Maharashtra B) Uttar Pradesh C) Andhra Pradesh D) Gujarat 344. 25th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting was recently held at which city in Vietnam? A) Da Nang B) Ho Chi Minh C) Nha Trang D) Hanoi 345. NGT has capped the number of pilgrims to be allowed to visit the Vaishno Devi shrine per day, to? A) 100,000 B) 20,000 C) 75,000 D) 50,000 346. 12th East Asia Summit was recently held at? A) Manila B) Hanoi C) Phnom Penh D) Naypyidaw 347. PM Narendra Modi, recently inaugurated a Resilient Rice Field Laboratory named after him, at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), in? A) Baguio B) Parañaque C) Davao D) Los Baños 348. Who recently won his 10th world title in judo at the openweight world championships in Marrakech, Morocco? A) Toma Nikiforov B) Cyrille Maret C) Tadahiro Nomura D) Teddy Riner 349. Which of the following states will organize a joint security exercise named as 'Sagar Kavach' to tighten the existing coastal security mechanism? 1. Andhra Pradesh 2. Tamilnadu 3. Odisha 4. West Bengal A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4 350. Which bank has granted Air India a Rs 1,500 crore loan to meet urgent working capital needs? A) State Bank of India B) Central Bank of India C) Corporation Bank D) Bank of India 351. Dipa Karmakar has been conferred a D.Litt. degree by? A) NIT Kurukshetra B) NIT Agartala C) NIT Silchar D) NIT Patna 352. U.N. disarmament grouping, the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) conducted talks on the use of autonomous weapons. The meeting, held in Geneva, was chaired by? A) Amandeep Gill B) Jean-Pierre Lacroix C) Elon Musk D) Antonio Guterres 353. Union minister Nitin Gadkari has announced a World Bank supported scheme to improve the irrigation facilities and water accessibility capacity, worth? A) Rs 6,000 crore B) Rs 4,000 crore C) Rs 5,000 crore D) Rs 8,000 crore 354. Who has been appointed by the Supreme Court as the Committee of Administrators (Ombudsmen) for formulation of a new constitution for the All India Football Federation? 1. Bhaskar Ganguly 2. Antony Prabhu 3. Mohit Das 4. S Y Qureshi A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4 355. Ministry of Women and Child Development has announced to celebrate the "Child Rights Week" from November 16 to 20 as? A) Hausla 2017 B) Sahas 2017 C) Pratigya 2017 D) Himmat 2017 356. As per a report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoAML), India is likely to overtake Japan in nominal GDP to become world’s third-largest economy by the year? A) 2025 B) 2028 C) 2023 D) 2020

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357. Google Arts and Culture unveiled its first lab experiment in India, named Future Relics, at? A) Bengaluru B) New Delhi C) Hyderabad D) Mumbai 358. Which F1 driver clinched the title at the Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo? A) Valterri Bottas B) Sebastian Vettel C) Kimi Raikkonen D) Lewis Hamilton 359. Union Home Ministry has created two new divisions to keep a check on which of the following issues? 1. Cyber Fraud 2. Radicalisation 3. Sedition 4. Gender Inequality A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4 360. Which company received the "Kalinga Safety Award" at the 8th Odisha State Safety Conclave? A) Odisha Mining Corporation Limited B) Mahanadi Coal Fields Limited C) Rourkela Steel Plant Limited D) Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited 361. Which of the following is going to get India's first helicopter-based air dispensary to serve people in remote areas? A) Andaman & Nicobar B) North East C) Jammu & Kashmir D) Lakshdweep 362. Union Cabinet has approved to create an organization to conduct entrance examinations for higher educational institutions under the Indian Societies Registration Act, 1860. It will be called? A) Local Enrolment Agency (LEA) B) Central Assessment Agency (CAA) C) Entrance Examination Agency EEA) D) National Testing Agency (NTA) 363. Lavi fair was recently held at Rampur Bushahr in which state? A) Jammu & Kashmir B) Himachal Pradesh C) Uttarakhand D) Sikkim 364. Ashok Khale, who recently passed away, was a veteran? A) Weightlifter B) Shooter C) Cyclist D) Wrestler 365. Government recently launched the second and final phase of BharatNet project with an outlay of? A) Rs 48,000 crore B) Rs 51,000 crore C) Rs 34,000 crore D) Rs 26,000 crore 366. Union Cabinet has approved the protocol amending Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with which country? A) Uzbekistan B) Khazakhstan C) Turkmenistan D) Kyrgyz Republic 367. Who clinched his 17th world title by winning the IBSF World Billiards Championship in Doha? A) Sourav Kothari B) Rupesh Shah C) Geet Sethi D) Pankaj Advani 368. Who has been appointed as the first woman President-Designate of National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom)? A) Priyanka Jain B) Debjani Ghosh C) namrata Panda D) Madhu Chaturvedi 369. Nepal has scrapped a $2.5 billion deal, with which country, to build its biggest hydropower plant, named "Budhi Gandaki hydroelectric project"? A) India B) China C) Bangladesh D) Myanmar 370. Who has become the first transgender to be appointed in Rajasthan police? A) Sheetal Devi B) Minakshi Singh C) Renu MS D) Ganga Kumari 371. World Kindness Day was celebrated in? A) Nov 13 B) Nov 11 C) Nov 9 D) Nov 12 372. For the first time in 60 years, which team has failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2018 to be held in Russia? A) England B) Germany C) Argentina D) Italy 373. Who has been appointed as the president of the 36th International Geological Congress (IGC), to be held in New Delhi in 2020? A) Prashant Jha B) Vijay Prasad Dimri C) Rohit Sisodia D) Shailesh Nayak 374. Who has been named a government nominee in the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) managing committee? A) Gautam Gambhir B) Ashish Nehra C) Virender Sehwag D) Harbhajan Singh

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375. BSF has decided to initiate dialogue at the Commandant-level with the rangers of which country? A) Bangladesh B) China C) Pakistan D) Myanmar 376. Which of the following delicacy of West Bengal has recently been granted geographical indication (GI) by the Commerce Ministry? A) Macher Jhol B) Aloo Posto C) Luchi D) Rosogolla 377. Which city hosted India's first Military Literature Festival (MLF)? A) Chandigarh B) New Delhi C) Dehradun D) Jammu 378. Who chaired the second Island Development Agency (IDA) meeting and reviewed the development of nine islands in Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands? A) Narendra Modi B) Nitin Gadkari C) Narendra Singh Tomar D) Rajnath Singh 379. Which state is going to set up North India’s biggest Butterfly Conservatory Park? A) Jammu & Kashmir B) Himachal Pradesh C) Uttarakhand D) Haryana 380. Who has become the youngest ever four-time MotoGP world champion, by winning his fourth title at Valencia, Spain? A) Johann Zarco B) Andrea Dovizioso C) Marc Marquez D) Dani Pedrosa 381. Which company has obtained an approval to form a joint venture company with Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd (MECL) and NALCO Ltd? A) Hindustan Copper Limited B) Container Corporation of India C) Balmer Lawrie & Company D) GAIL (India) Limited 382. Which company has entered a five-year IT infrastructure services contract with Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT)? A) Wipro B) HCL Technologies C) Infosys D) Tata Consultancy Services 383. Virendra Sanghi , who recently passed away, was a noted? A) Politician B) Sportsperson C) Journalist D) Theatre personality 384. Union Cabinet has approved signing of the Joint Interpretative Declaration (JID) with which country, regarding the Agreement for the Promotion and Protection of Investments? A) Bulgaria B) Armenia C) Colombia D) Laos 385. Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) has announced to set up a Centre of Excellence in? A) Karwar B) Kochi C) Vishakhapatnam D) Marmugao 386. How is India ranked in terms of climatic vulnerability on the global Climate Risk Index (CRI) by Berlin-based NGO Germanwatch? A) 12th B) 6th C) 3rd D) 9th 387. World Diabetes Day was recently observed, with the theme ‘Women and diabetes – our right to a healthy future’ on? A) Nov 11 B) Nov 13 C) Nov 14 D) Nov 12 388. How much amount has been authorized by US Congress to Coalition Support Fund (CSF) to reimburse Pakistan for operations carried out in Afghanistan? A) USD 500 million B) USD 800 million C) USD 600 million D) USD 700 million 389. Which university is going to jointly work on a project with Netherlands government on a range of agricultural issues? A) Haryana Agriculture University, Hisar B) Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana C) Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat D) Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur 390. Mahendra Singh Dhoni recently inaugurated his first cricket academy in? A) Dubai B) Durban C) Dublin D) Dhaka 391. Who has been awarded the ATP World Number 1 trophy on court at the ATP World Tour Finals in London? A) Alexander Zverev B) Rafael Nadal C) Andy Murray D) Roger Federer 392. As a part of the Indo-Bangladesh defense cooperation, an army training capsule on counter- insurgency operations will be conducted in? A) Asansol B) Patna C) Guwahati D) Agartala

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393. Who was awarded the Sportswoman of the Year in the Team sports category at the Indian Sports Honours held in Mumbai? A) Harmanpreet Kaur B) Deepti Sharma C) Mithali Raj D) Jhulan Goswami 394. As per Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), India is going to become world's third largest aviation market for departures, by the year? A) 2021 B) 2018 C) 2019 D) 2022 395. Who has been concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to Ecuador? A) Jitin Acharya B) Harish Singla C) Ravi Bangar D) Sudeep Kaushal 396. Which insurance company has signed a corporate agency agreement with Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait B S C (BBK)? A) Apollo Munich B) PNB MetLife C) Future Generali D) Cigna TTK 397. Borut Pahor has won second term as the President of? A) Slovenia B) Georgia C) Armenia D) Czechia 398. National Education Day was celebrated across India on Nov 11. It is celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of? A) Maulana Abul Kalam Azad B) Rajendra Prasad C) Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan D) Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam 399. Who led the Indian Delegation at the 4th Annual Ministerial Dialogue with Canada, held in New Delhi? A) Rajnath Singh B) Sushma Swaraj C) Suresh Prabhu D) MJ Akbar 400. Which of the following has won the ‘Bad Grammar Award’ instituted by Idler magazine? A) Transport for London B) Ivanka Trump Tweets C) Facebook Mission Statement D) Tesco Advertisements 401. Union Cabinet has recently approved the continuation and restructuring of National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP). How much amount has been approved for the scheme till March 2020? A) Rs 23,050 crore B) Rs 12,300 crore C) Rs 27,950 crore D) Rs 16,836 crore 402. Saeed Ajmal, who recently announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, belong to? A) Pakistan B) Afghanistan C) Bangladesh D) South Africa 403. World Pneumonia Day was recently observed on? A) Nov 14 B) Nov 10 C) Nov 12 D) Nov 8 404. Public Service Broadcasting Day was recently observed on Nov 12. It is observed every year to commemorate the first and last address by which leader through All India Radio? A) Rajendra Prasad B) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel C) Jawahar Lal Nehru D) Mahatama Gandhi 405. Union Cabinet has approved appointment of 2nd National Judicial Pay Commission (SNJPC) for Subordinate Judiciary. The Commission is to be headed by? A) Justice N R Padma B) Justice J P.Venkatrama Reddi C) Justice R. Basant D) Justice Gokul Santhanam 406. Phanindra Sama, who has been appointed Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) of Telangana, is the co- founder of which startup? A) Cleartrip B) Zoomcar C) Oyo Rooms D) RedBus 407. Who led India at the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit held in Manila, Philippines? A) Rajnath Singh B) Suresh Prabhu C) Sushma Swaraj D) Narenrdra Modi 408. Surendra Kumar Sinha, resigned as the chief justice of? A) Sri Lanka B) Nepal C) India D) Bangladesh 409. Who has been awarded the Director-General of Police (DGP) of Telangana? A) M. Mahender Reddy B) Vijay Nambiar C) N. Sambasiva Rao D) Anurag Sharma 410. Which country has announced to become the first to make contact with alien life using its 500- metre Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST)? A) US B) Russia C) China D) UAE

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411. A 1.5-mw Biaras small hydropower project (SHP), which is the first project under the Prime Minister's Ladakh Renewable Energy Initiative, has been commissioned at? A) Sarchu B) Drass C) Gartok D) Lahaul 412. In a first, which state's labour commission has certified the formation of State IT/ITES Employees Union? A) Telangana B) Maharashtra C) Karnataka D) Tamilnadu 413. Who has become the first Indian-born Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter to be signed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship? A) Pankaj Khatri B) Bharat Khandare C) Nishant Pant D) Ramesh SIngh 414. 10th South Asia Economic Summit (SAES) recently began, with the theme "Deepening Economic Integration for Inclusive and Sustainable Development in South Asia", at? A) New Delhi B) Dhaka C) Kathmandu D) Naypyidaw 415. Which of the following has signed an MoU with CRISIL to launch CriSidEx, a sentiment index for MSMEs? A) SIDBI B) NABARD C) SEBI D) RBI 416. Who has been named as the chairperson of the World Hindu Congress, to be organised by the World Hindu Foundation in Chicago in 2018? A) Usha Rudolf B) Vishnupriya Hannigan C) Tulsi Gabbard D) Lakshmi Perry 417. Turner International India and Rajgreen group are going to set up India's first Cartoon Network- branded theme park, named Amaazia, in? A) Varanasi B) Kochi C) Surat D) Bhubaneshwar 418. Union Cabinet has approved signing of an MoU with Philippines in the field of? A) Agriculture B) Sports C) Drug Abuse D) IT services 419. Ex-servicemen Welfare Board have announced to organize Sainik Sankshema Sabha in all districts in? 1. Telangana 2. Tamil Nadu 3. Karnataka 4. Andhra Pradesh A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4 420. Kirti Nidhi Bista, who recently passed away, was a three-time Prime Minister of? A) Sri Lanka B) Nepal C) Bangladesh D) Myanmar 421. Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore recently released the India Youth Development Index and Report 2017. What is the definition of youth considered in construction of the index? A) 13 – 19 years B) 15 – 29 years C) 14 – 25 years D) 16 – 30 years 422. CCEA has recently approved to utilise part of the buffer stock of which of the following commodities for meeting the protein component under various Central Government Schemes? A) Rice B) Pulses C) Onion D) Wheat 423. National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) is going to build India's first offshore desalination plant off the coast of? A) Kochi B) Vizag C) Ennore D) Karwar

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ANSWER KEYS

01 c 02 d 03 c 04 d 05 a 06 b 07 b 08 c 09 c 10 a 11 c 12 d 13 b 14 a 15 a 16 a 17 a 18 b 19 d 20 c 21 b 22 c 23 a 24 c 25 a 26 d 27 c 28 c 29 a 30 d 31 c 32 d 33 d 34 c 35 a 36 a 37 c 38 b 39 c 40 d 41 a 42 b 43 c 44 d 45 a 46 b 47 b 48 c 49 a 50 b 51 d 52 d 53 b 54 b 55 d 56 c 57 a 58 c 59 d 60 c 61 b 62 b 63 a 64 a 65 a 66 d 67 c 68 c 69 c 70 d 71 c 72 a 73 d 74 a 75 d 76 d 77 a 78 a 79 c 80 b 81 c 82 c 83 a 84 a 85 a 86 a 87 b 88 b 89 d 90 b 91 c 92 d 93 d 94 d 95 a 96 c 97 c 98 a 99 b 100 b 101 d 102 a 103 d 104 b 105 d 106 c 107 a 108 c 109 b 110 b 111 b 112 c 113 d 114 b 115 a 116 a 117 d 118 b 119 c 120 d 121 c 122 a 123 c 124 a 125 a 126 d 127 c 128 c 129 b 130 d 131 b 132 a 133 b 134 a 135 c 136 d 137 c 138 c 139 d 140 c 141 b 142 b 143 c 144 a 145 a 146 c 147 b 148 c 149 c 150 c 151 b 152 d 153 a 154 b 155 a 156 a 157 b 158 a 159 c 160 c 161 d 162 d 163 d 164 d 165 a 166 c 167 a 168 b 169 b 170 a 171 c 172 c 173 d 174 c 175 c 176 b 177 b 178 d 179 c 180 a 181 b 182 a 183 d 184 d 185 c 186 a 187 a 188 b 189 a 190 a 191 b 192 c 193 d 194 b 195 d 196 c 197 a 198 d 199 c 200 c 201 d 202 a 203 c 204 b 205 c 206 a 207 d 208 b 209 c 210 a 211 b 212 a 213 c 214 b 215 b 216 d 217 d 218 c 219 b 220 a 221 b 222 c 223 d 224 b 225 c 226 d 227 c 228 c 229 b 230 d 231 a 232 a 233 b 234 b 235 c 236 b 237 d 238 d 239 d 240 d 241 a 242 b 243 d 244 a 245 b 246 b 247 d 248 b 249 d 250 b 251 c 252 c 253 d 254 c 255 d 256 c 257 d 258 a 259 a 260 a 261 a 262 a 263 d 264 b 265 a 266 d 267 a 268 c 269 d 270 c 271 c 272 a 273 b 274 a 275 b 276 b 277 b 278 b 279 d 280 c 281 a 282 d 283 a 284 c 285 d 286 c 287 a 288 b 289 c 290 d 291 a 292 c 293 d 294 a 295 a 296 d 297 b 298 c 299 a 300 d 301 b 302 c 303 b 304 a 305 d 306 d 307 c 308 d 309 b 310 a 311 c 312 c 313 a 314 d 315 c 316 b 317 b 318 b 319 b 320 d 321 a 322 c 323 b 324 d 325 b 326 c 327 b 328 d 329 a 330 b 331 a 332 c 333 c 334 a 335 b 336 c 337 c 338 a 339 a 340 b 341 b 342 c 343 b 344 a 345 d 346 a 347 d 348 d 349 c 350 d 351 b 352 a 353 a 354 d 355 a 356 b 357 d 358 b 359 a 360 d 361 b 362 d 363 b 364 c 365 c 366 b 367 d 368 b 369 b 370 d 371 a 372 d 373 b 374 a 375 c 376 d 377 a 378 d 379 d 380 c 381 a 382 b 383 c 384 c 385 b 386 b 387 c 388 d 389 a 390 a 391 b 392 b 393 c 394 c 395 c 396 b 397 a 398 a 399 c 400 a 401 a 402 a 403 c 404 d 405 b 406 d 407 d 408 d 409 a 410 c 411 b 412 c 413 b 414 c 415 a 416 c 417 c 418 a 419 d 420 b 421 b 422 b 423 c

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1. What is the rank of SEBI chairman Ajay Tyagi in the World's Most Influential People in Market Structure launched by Patrick Young & Exchange Invest? A) 10th B) 3rd C) 5th D) 7th 2. Which state has implemented the Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS) to rovide easy access to curative geriatric health care services? A) Bihar B) Himachal Pradesh C) Odisha D) Telangana 3. Government has announced the issue of Sovereign Gold Bonds 2017 - 18 series - III. The investment limit per individual has been increased from 500 grams to? A) 1 kg B) 3 kg C) 4 kg D) 2 kg 4. Who has been re-elected as president of the Federations of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) for 2017 - 18? A) Praksh Sinha B) John K Paul C) Vinod Jena D) Afzal Saeed 5. How many medals did India win, to finish second after China, at the 20th Asia Masters Athletics Championships in Rugao, China? A) 121 B) 183 C) 146 D) 85 6. A UGC panel has suggested to drop the words ‘Muslim’ and ‘Hindu’ from AMU & BHU. The panel was constituted to audit how many central universities? A) 5 B) 10 C) 15 D) 20 7. The Supreme Court has held that sexual intercourse by a man with his minor wife will be considered as rape. Earlier, Clause 2 of which section of the IPC allowed the husband of a girl child — between 15 and 18 years of age, the liberty to have non - consensual sexual intercourse with her? A) Section 377 B) Section 360 C) Section 389 D) Section 375 8. Who has been appointed as the CEO of Freecharge, which has been bought by Axis Bank in a Rs 373 crore deal? A) Shankar Agarwal B) Vinod Agrawal C) Sangram Singh D) Anuj Kumar Bishnoi 9. Which country has recently approved a new test -- called the cobas Zika test -- to screen donated blood for the Zika virus? A) India B) Brazil C) US D) France 10. Which of the following has introduced intelligent features in its GST software to help businesses ensure flow of credit without reducing their working capital reserve? A) TaxSpanner B) Taxmantra C) Taxsmile D) Clear Tax 11. The Supreme Court has, till November 1, 2017, suspended the sale of firecrackers in? A) Delhi NCR B) Maharashtra C) Punjab D) Uttar Pradesh 12. Which IIT hosted the 'Dialogue of Civilizations - IV' organized by the National Geographic Society, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)? A) Kharagpur B) Gandhinagar C) Delhi D) Kanpur 13. As per a recent announcement by CBDT, how many new APAs did it sign in September with Indian taxpayers to reduce litigation by providing certainty in transfer pricing? A) 2 B) 10 C) 8 D) 15 14. Which nation launched Venezuela's remote sensing satellite, VRSS - 2? A) India B) Russia C) USA D) China 15. US government has eased sanctions against which nation? A) Nigeria B) Burkina Faso C) Sudan D) Malawi 16. Which of the following companies has roped in Katrina Kaif as its first brand ambassador? A) Flipkart B) Titan Eyeplus C) Amazon D) Lenskart 17. Which of the following has been recognised as India's best fast moving FMCG company in the food sector at the 5th IAA Leadership Awards at Mumbai? A) Kissan B) Britannia C) GCMMF D) Parle Agro 18. Who has won the 2017 Nobel Prize for economics for his work in behavioural economics? A) Daniel Kahneman B) Richard Thaler C) Robert Shiller D) Herb Simon

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19. International Olympic Committee (IOC) has recently suspended the Olympic Committee of which nation and its president? A) Russia B) France C) India D) Brazil 20. President Ram Nath Kovind recently announced to give Ethiopia a line of credit for power transmission of? A) USD 195 million B) USD 315 million C) USD 145 million D) USD 255 million 21. In which state did President Ram Nath Kovind launch Mata Amritanandamayi Math's Rs 100 crore clean water initiative 'Jivamritam' filtration system? A) Andhra Pradesh B) Tamilnadu C) Karnataka D) Kerala 22. 260 applications have been received from scientists globally for the Centre's Visiting Advanced Joint Research (VAJRA) Faculty scheme. It is a project run by? A) Department of Bio - Technology B) Department of Scientific and Industrial Research C) Department of Science and Technology D) Department of Space 23. Which F1 driver won the Japanese Grand Prix? A) Lewis Hamilton B) Valtteri Bottas C) Max Verstappen D) Daniel Ricciardo 24. Which state government has launched 'Solar Briefcase' programme, for providing off grid power in remote areas, funded by Hans foundation? A) Uttarakhand B) Rajasthan C) Maarashtra D) Andhra Pradesh 25. What is India's rank on Nation Brands 2017 report by Brand Finance? A) 2nd B) 14th C) 5th D) 8th 26. Who inaugurated 'India Water Week', with 2017 theme “Water and Energy for Inclusive Growth”, in New Delhi? A) Venkaiah Naidu B) Nitin Jairam Gadkari C) Uma Bharti D) Ram nath Kovind 27. China has recently approved which company's $1.1 - billion purchase of Samsung Electronics’ printer business? A) Dell B) HP C) Lenovo D) Acer 28. Who has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) to succeed Gajendra Chauhan? A) Akshay Kumar B) Prasoon Joshi C) Anupam Kher D) Ashok Pandit 29. What is the name of the first British ship which sank during the World War II, whose shipwreck has been found on the sea bed off the coast of Ireland? A) HMS Electra B) SS Bremen C) SS Athenia D) HMS Fame 30. Which state has recently banned chlorinated plastic and PVC with immediate effect? A) Himachal Pradesh B) Rajasthan C) Bihar D) Chhattisgarh 31. Which nation has become the smallest ever to qualify for FIFA World Cup to be held in Russia in 2018 ? A) Trinidad & Tobago B) Iceland C) Grenada D) Seychelles 32. GST Council has lowered tax rates on how many products in the 22nd meeting held in New Delhi? A) 35 B) 27 C) 18 D) 21 33. Two - Day conference on Blockchain technology was recently held at? A) New Delhi B) Bengaluru C) Vishakhapatnam D) Chandigarh 34. A parliamentary panel on external affairs, headed by whom, will examine Dokalam standoff and the Rohingya issue? A) Subramanian Swamy B) Kapil Sibal C) Shashi Tharoor D) Jairam Ramesh 35. When was World Day against the Death Penalty observed? A) Oct 14 B) Oct 12 C) Oct 8 D) Oct 10 36. A RBI study group, headed by whom, has recently submitted its report on external benchmark rate for banks? A) Janak Raj B) Himanshu Nagar C) Vineet Panwar D) Pawan Singh

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37. Which Bank has committed a financial assistance of Rs 10 crore to the Indian Armed Forces? A) YES Bank B) HDFC Bank C) Federal Bank D) ICICI Bank 38. A 3,000 kilometer transcontinental World Solar Challenge car race kicked off in? A) Switzerland B) Canada C) Germany D) Australia 39. IBBI has relaxed norms for information utilities. Listed Indian companies can now hold how much per cent of the paid - up equity share capital or total voting power rights in such firms? A) 100% B) 80% C) 75% D) 60% 40. Which IIT has signed an MoU with Samsung India for the setting up of a digital academy? A) Kanpur B) Roorkee C) Kharagpur D) Guwahati 41. Who has been appointed to head the high - level 5 - member Committee constituted by MHA to study problems of border people on Line of Control (LoC) a nd International Border (IB) in J&K? A) Mandeep K Bhandari, B) Rina Mitra C) RK Goyal D) Baseer Khan 42. Researchers from which nation have created a smart bandage which can accommodate multiple medications and be controlled for the dose and delivery schedule ? A) India B) US C) Sweden D) Germany 43. Who has been appointed as the new president of the US - India Business Council (USIBC)? A) Kamala Harris B) Nisha Desai Biswal C) Vinita Jindal D) Pramila Jayapal 44. Which company and the Andhra Pradesh government has enabled digital payments under the Vizag Digital Dhan Sankalp (VDDS) project? A) Maestro B) Visa C) Rupay D) Mastercard 45. MoRTH has reconstituted a panel for approving proposals for use of new technologies, material and equipment. It is to be headed by ? A) SR Tambe B) Vishal Saluja C) Ranjeet Basu D) NG Kakkad 46. Who won the men's singles title at the China Open held at Beijing? A) Andy Murray B) Rafael Nadal C) Nick Kyrgios D) Roger Federer 47. Which of the following companies has signed an MoU with Finland's Fortum Oyj for developing electric vehicle charging infrastructure in India? A) L&T B) NBCC C) Mahindra & Mahindra D) Tata 48. Minister of Petroleum Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated the office of which oil giant in Gurugram recently? A) ExxonMobil B) Saudi Aramco C) Chevron Corporation D) PETRONAS 49. Who inaugurated the third edition of the two - day ‘International Conference on Yoga for Wellness’ with theme “Yoga for Wellness” in Delhi? A) M. Venkaiah Naidu B) Arvind Kejriwal C) Ram Nath Kovind D) Narendra Modi 50. The first ever conference of Partner NGOs of MoWCD was recently inaugurated by Union minister Maneka Gandhi at? A) New Delhi B) Lucknow C) Jaipur D) Chandigarh 51. The governing body of which sport has recently made it mandatory for the players to pass the Yo - Yo fitness test for getting selected on the national team? A) Cricket B) Hockey C) Football D) Basketball 52. Who has been appointed as the new MD and CEO of PNB MetLife India Insurance? A) Ashish Srivastava B) Vishwapati Trivedi C) Rajiv Gupta D) Rakesh Singh 53. Scientists in which country have identified a new bacterium, named Allostreptomyces indica YIM 75704T, that could be used to produce antibiotics? A) US B) India C) Australia D) Japan 54. Which badminton player has won the gold medal at the U - 15 women's singles competition at the Asian Junior Championship held at Yangon, Myanmar? A) Ameya Verma B) Keerthana Ramakrishnan C) Abhinaya Reddy D) Samiya Imad Farooqui

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55. Who inaugurated the four - day first Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi - Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation Disaster Management Exercise (BIMSTEC DMEx -2017) at Delhi? A) Rajnath Singh B) Dr. Harsh Vardhan C) Nitin Gadkari D) Nirmala Sitharaman 56. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched 'Intensified Mission Indradhanush from Gujarat's Vadnagar. It now aims to ensure 90 percent coverage for full immunisation by? A) Mar 2018 B) Dec 2018 C) Dec 2017 D) Mar 2019 57. Prasar Bharti recently launched an online application system for music auditions across all genres for the All India Radio (AIR) on the occasion of 64th Akashvani Sangeet Sammelan held at? A) New Delhi B) Mumbai C) Bhopal D) Chandigarh 58. NABARD has bought an additional 7% stake in SIDBI for Rs 900 crore from? A) Bank of India B) IDBI Bank C) Syndicate Bank D) Vijaya Bank 59. What is the name of India's first - ever portal dedicated to para sportspersons? A) thenationspride.com B) saluteindiasheroes.com C) celebratethewinners.com D) indiaschampions.com 60. Which Indian player has claimed the World Open Under - 16 Snooker Championship title in the girls category, held at St. Petersburg, Russia? A) Anupama Ramachandran B) Haritha Gopal C) Keerthana Pandian D) Vishnupriya Reddy 61. International Day of the Girl Child', with the 2017 theme "EmPOWER Girls: Before, during and after crises", was observed on? A) Oct 8 B) Oct 11 C) Oct 13 D) Oct 14 62. SpaceX recently launched how many Iridium - NEXT communications satellites into space? A) 10 B) 21 C) 36 D) 49 63. Northeast labour ministers' meeting was recently held at? A) Imphal B) Agartala C) Shillong D) Dispur 64. A BRICS-themed subway train has started its test run in? A) Russia B) China C) Brazil D) India 65. Which Indian state has emerged as the leading source market for Australia in terms of tourists? A) Karnataka B) Maharashtra C) Tamilnadu D) Punjab 66. Which Indian badminton player has won the men's singles title at the Bulgarian International Future Series tournament held in Sofia? A) Arvind Bhat B) Anand Pawar C) RMV Gurusaidutt D) Sourabh Varma 67. Researchers in which nation conducted a study which suggests that exposure to air pollution has effects on children’s cognitive development and reduces their working memory? A) US B) China C) India D) Spain 68. Which country has announced to have revised the tourist visa rules for people from India, China and Russia? A) Kuwait B) Oman C) Saudi Arabia D) UAE 69. Which country has begun the exercise titled Pacific Resilience Disaster Response Exercise and Exchange (DREE) with Bangladesh in Dhaka and Mymensingh? A) India B) China C) USA D) Sri Lanka 70. What was the 2017 theme of World Mental Health Day observed on Oct 10? A) Mental health in the workplace B) Psychological first aid C) Dignity in mental health D) Mental health and older adults 71. How much amount has central government sanctioned for the setting up of Aadhaar centres in post offices across India? A) Rs 2000 crore B) Rs 2500 crore C) Rs 3000 crore D) Rs 1500 crore 72. Which small finance bank has announced to have tied up with Aditya Birla Health Insurance? A) Disha Small Finance Bank B) Equitas Small Finance Bank C) Ujjivan Small Finance Bank D) AU Small Finance Bank

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73. RBI has initiated a 'prompt corrective action' against which bank for high NPAs? A) Oriental Bank of Commerce B) Bank of Maharashtra C) Corporation Bank D) Punjab & Sindh Bank 74. Mera Hou Chongba festival was recently celebrated in? A) Mizoram B) Tripura C) Nagaland D) Manipur 75. Government has announced to have raised the stake in IDBI bank to? A) 86.13% B) 81.47% C) 77.79% D) 75.62% 76. Which bank has officially opened its new Global Business Services (GBS) centre at Bengaluru? A) Deutsche Bank B) DBS Bank C) Standard Chartered Bank D) Barclays Bank 77. 3 - day international exhibition - 'World Dental Show 2017', hosted by the Indian Dental Association (IDA), was recently held at? A) Mumbai B) New Delhi C) Chennai D) Kolkata 78. Bismoy Kumar Mohanty, who recently passed away, was a noted? A) Advocate B) Politician C) Journalist D) Actor 79. Who has been appointed the first chief financial officer (CFO) of Swiggy? A) Anup Puri B) Rahul Bothra C) Vinay Bisht D) Suresh Sahay 80. Who headed the Haj Committee which recently submitted its report to Ministry of Minority Affairs? A) Qaiser Shamim B) S.S. Parkar C) Afzal Amanullah D) Kamal Faruqui 81. Which bank has entered into an MoU with HPCL for enabling all HPCL retail outlets throughout Karnataka with BHIM/UPI merchant solutions? A) Indian Bank B) Vijaya Bank C) Allahabad Bank D) UCO Bank 82. Which company has announced to have acquired 9X Media Pvt Ltd and its subsidiaries from New Silk Route & others for Rs 160 crore? A) Colors B) SET India C) Star India D) Zee Entertainment 83. Who has been appointed to head the group of ministers (GoM) set up to make the composition scheme more attractive and to revisit the GST rates on restaurants? A) Haseeb Drabu B) Sushil Modi C) Himanta Biswa Sarma D) Manpreet Singh Badal 84. Who clinched his maiden international title on the Asian Tour’s Yeangder Tournament Players Championship in Taipei? A) Anirban Lahiri B) Ajeetesh Sandhu C) Gaganjeet Bhullar D) Shiv Kapur 85. Who is the author of the novel 'Sugandhi Enna Andal Devanayaki' which has been chosen for Vayalar Ramavarma Literary Prize? A) Anil Kumar B) Thomas Mathew C) K.P. Mohanan D) T.D. Ramakrishnan 86. Who has been conferred the ‘Cross of the Order of Merit’, the highest civilian honour awarded by Germany? A) Sunil Arora B) Sanjay Kumar C) Rajesh Nath D) Ajit Mahesh 87. Who has been appointed by the Supreme Court, as the Amicus Curiae or impartial adviser, to examine the scope for re - investigating Mahatma Gandhi's assassination in 1948? A) Amrendra Sharan B) L Nageswara Rao C) S A Bobde D) Pankaj Phadnis 88. Which state's Department of Tourism has launched a three - year long Continuous Tourist Survey 2017 - 20? A) Goa B) Uttarakhand C) Kerala D) Rajasthan 89. Three states announced a cut in Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel. Which f the following is not one of them? A) Maharashtra B) Madhya Pradesh C) Himachal Pradesh D) Gujarat 90. Which of the following is the first tribal dominant district in Rajasthan which has become Open Defecation Free (ODF)? A) Baran B) Sirohi C) Jhunjhunu D) Dungarpur 91. Vinay Mohan Kwatra has been appointed as India's new Ambassador to? A) Monaco B) San Marino C) Andorra D) Belgium

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92. World Post Day, celebrated each year on 9 October, is the anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union in 1874 in? A) Munich B) Brussels C) Oslo D) Bern 93. PM Narendra Modi recently launched Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) under the Skill India scheme. It seeks to train 6 crore students till? A) March 2019 B) March 2018 C) March 2020 D) March 2021 94. Which airport is set to be become India's first Aadhaar - enabled airport by 2018? A) Mumbai B) Hyderabad C) Delhi D) Bengaluru 95. Which company has signed an agreement with Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (IREDA) for Rs 300 crore loan? A) Reliance Commercial Finance B) Tata Capital C) Bajaj Finserv D) SBI Financial Services 96. Which of the following has become the first law firm to have opened an office at Gujarat International Finance Tec - City (GIFT)? A) Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas B) SS Rana and Company C) ALG India Law Offices D) J Sagar Associates 97. Which of the following pair won the recurve team gold medal at the World Archery Youth Championship in Rosario, Argentina? A) Atul Verma and Khushbu Dhayal B) Khushbu Dhayal and Jemson Ningthoujam C) Jemson Ningthoujam and Ankita Bhakat D) Ankita Bhakat and Atul Verma 98. Which city is going to get India's first marine police training and research institute? A) Bhubaneswar B) Panaji C) Vizag D) Dwarka 99. Who has resigned from his position of Chairman & CEO of PepsiCo India to join Aditya Birla Group as president (corporate strategy and business development)? A) R. Vijaykumar B) G. Mohan Kumar C) K. Vijayraghavan D) D. Shivakumar 100. India recently celebrated its 85th Air Force Day? A) Oct 9 B) Oct 12 C) Oct 8 D) Oct 11 101. Vinit Kumar has taken over charge as chairman of? A) Kandla Port Trust B) Vishakhapatnam Port Trust C) Kolkata Port Trust D) Chennai Port Trust 102. Which insurance company has launched its chatbot ‘Eazy Connect’? A) Tata AIA Life B) IDBI Federal Life C) Birla Sun Life D) ICICI Prudential 103. Which of the following is not one of the agreement signed during 14th India-EU Summit held in New Delhi? A) Agreement between EU & SERB for Indian Researchers B) Finance Contract of Bangalore Metro for Euro 300 million C) Agreement between SEBI and ESMA D) Joint Declaration between ISA and the European Investment Bank 104. Prabhakarpant Ojharkar, who recently passed away, belonged to which political party? A) RJD B) BJP C) BSP D) INC 105. FIFA has recently suspended which nation's football federation? A) Brazil B) Russia C) Bangladesh D) Pakistan 106. With how many medals did India top the medal tally in the Track Asia Cup held at New Delhi? A) 34 B) 45 C) 21 D) 18 107. 44th edition of Indian Handicrafts and Gifts Fair, the world's largest B2B handicraft and gifts fair, was recently held at? A) Greater Noida B) Chandigarh C) Jaipur D) Ranchi 108. Kwon Oh-hyun has resigned from his position of CEO of? A) Mi B) Samsung Electronics C) HTC D) Vivo 109. As per Central Statistics Office (CSO), India's index of industrial production (IIP) reached in August a nine-month high of? A) 4.3% B) 3.9% C) 4.8% D) 5.1%

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110. Which state has announced a new Garment and Apparel Policy 2017? A) Maharashtra B) Andhra Pradesh C) Gujarat D) Uttar Pradesh 111. Which Indian cricketer has announced his retirement from the competitive cricket? A) Ashish Nehra B) Yuvraj Singh C) Harbhajan Singh D) Gautam Gambhir 112. Who has been honoured with ' Vayoshreshtha Samman', the National Award for senior citizens by President Ramnath Kovind? A) Gurbax Singh Sandhu B) S. M. Arif C) Ramakant Achrekar D) Satpal Singh 113. Which Indian footballer scored India’s first-ever goal in a FIFA competition in a match against Colombia in the FIFA U-17 World Cup? A) Amarjit Singh B) Jeakson Thounaojam C) Boris Thangjam D) Dheeraj Moirangthem 114. Who has been appointed as the Business Head of 'MobiKwik Payment Gateway'? A) Rukaiya Rangwala B) Somya Sethi C) Upasana Taku D) Anjali Pednekar 115. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley recently attended the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting at? A) Beijing B) Washington DC C) Hamburg D) St Petersburg 116. World's largest combustion research centre, National Centre for Combustion Research and Development (NCCRD), was recently inaugurated at which IIT? A) Kharagpur B) Delhi C) Bombay D) Madras 117. Amazon Web Services (AWS) has tied up with which company to launch an open-source and deep learning interface 'Gluon'? A) Google B) Apple C) Intel D) Microsoft 118. Union Cabinet has approved signing of an MoC with which country on establishing a liquid, flexible and global LNG Market? A) Vietnam B) China C) South Korea D) Japan 119. World Standards Day was observed on? A) Oct 10 B) Oct 12 C) Oct 14 D) Oct 8 120. Which of the following Indian Naval Ships are visiting Sasebo in Japan to take part in Passage Exercise (PASSEX)? 1. INS Talwar 2. INS Ganga 3. INS Satpura 4. INS Kadmatt A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4 121. The annual Dilli seminar on 'India and Southeast Asia: Maritime Trade, Expedition and Civilisation Linkages' recently began at? A) Andhra Pradesh B) New Delhi C) Gujarat D) Kerala 122. International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) has been approved by Union Cabinet for changing its status from a NGO to an? A) IGO B) CSO C) MGO D) DGO 123. Who has been awarded the Kota Shivaram Karanth Huttura Prashasti? A) Saeed Mirza B) Prakash Raj C) Paresh Kamdar D) Dibakar Banerjee 124. Which of the following departments has launched the Sampoorna Bima Gram (SBG) Yojana? A) Department of Social Justice and Empowerment B) Department of Posts C) Department of Health and Family Welfare D) Department of Financial Services 125. Who has been appointed as the interim MD of Facebook India to replace Umang Bedi, who stepped down from his position recently? A) Naman Bhardwaj B) Kirthiga Reddy C) Ravi Agnihotri D) Sandeep Bhushan 126. Government recently announced that transportation of natural gas through pipeline will attract GST, without input tax credits, of? A) 5% B) 12% C) 18% D) 28% 127. SEBI has directed the stock exchanges to impose a fine of how much amount per day on companies non-compliant with the minimum public shareholding norms? A) Rs 5,000 B) Rs 20,000 C) Rs 10,000 D) Rs 15,000

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128. India recently began the joint training exercise "Mitra Shakti 2017" at Aundh Military Station in Pune with which country? A) Thailand B) Sri Lanka C) Nepal D) Bangladesh 129. India has secured a direct qualification to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup for the first time since 1984, after defeating which team? A) Thailand B) Kyrgyzstan C) Vietnam D) Macau 130. How much amount has Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) raised through ‘GOI Fully Serviced Bonds’ recently? A) Rs 880 crore B) Rs 550 crore C) Rs 990 crore D) Rs 660 crore 131. Which city is going to host an international Puppet festival for the first time? A) Jodhpur B) Bhopal C) New Delhi D) Kolkata 132. As per World Payment Report, 2017, jointly commissioned by Capgemini and BNP Paribas, digital payments during 2016-2020 will grow at a CAGR of? A) 18.3% B) 31.1% C) 26.2% D) 20.6% 133. IMF has slashed India's GDP growth forecast for 2017 from 7.2% to? A) 6.9% B) 6.7% C) 7% D) 7.1% 134. Who has become the first female referee to officiate a match at the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 at a match held at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata? A) Bibiana Steinhaus B) Kari Seitz C) Esther Staubli D) Christine Baitinger 135. Which of the following Palestinian political parties reached a deal over political reconciliation? 1. Fatah 2. Third way 3. Al-Mustaqbal 4. Hamas A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4 136. Which of the following announced the launch of mobile app-Trade Transaction Tracker -to help customers track the status of their trade transactions on a real-time basis? A) Kotak Securities B) HSBC C) HDFC Securities D) SMC 137. Which bank announced the launch of SmartUp zones in its branches across India? A)HDFC Bank B) Axis Bank C) Federal Bank D) ICICI Bank 138. MasterCard announced the launch of its India innovation centre at? A) Punjab B) Maharashtra C) Telangana D) Tamilnadu 139. Union Cabinet has approved an MoU with which country for cooperation in the field of Vocational Education and Training (VET)? A) Ukraine B) Poland C) Belarus D) Croatia 140. Who has been chosen for the Mathrubhumi Literary Award for 2016? A) M. T. Vasudevan Nair B) N. S. Madhavan C) M K Sanu D) Paul Zacharia 141. Who will head the National Committee, been set up to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi from October 2, 2019 to October 2, 2020? A) M Venkaiah Naidu B) Amit Shah C) Narendra Modi D) Arun Jaitley 142. Who has been appointed as the new CEO of HSBC? A) John Flint B) Mark Greene C) Douglas Hannigan D) Stuart Gulliver 143. Arjen Robben, who recently announced his retirement from international football, played for which football club? A) Paris Saint-Germain F.C. B) Juventus F.C C) FC Bayern Munich D) Atlético Madrid 144. Centre has imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of certain steel wire rods for five years, from? A) China B) Malaysia C) South Korea D) Indonesia 145. Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing of an MoU with which nation on ooperation in the field of water resources? A) Mauritania B) Algeria C) Egypt D) Morocco

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146. With which country did Indian Railways sign a joint declaration of Intent for increasing the speed of passenger trains to 200 kmph? A) Germany B) Japan C) China D) US 147. National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has been assigned by Moody’s Investors Service a rating of? A) Ba2 B) A3 C) B1 D) Baa3 148. US-Liberian clinical research partnership has reported successful clinical trials of two experimental vaccines against which of the following diseases? A) Zika B) Ebola C) Yellow Fever D) Avian Influenza 149. Satish Chandra, who recently passed away, was a noted? A) Journalist B) Jurist C) Historian D) Astronomer 150. Which of the following has launched a mobile health App named 'MedWatch'? A) Indian Air Force B) Indian Medical Council C) AIIMS D) NITI Aayog 151. Centre has approved setting up of two sewage treatment plants (STPs) at which of the following locations in the PPP mode for a combined cost of Rs 324.69crore under the Namami Gange programme? 1. Haridwar 2. Varanasi 3. Allahabad 4. Gorakhpur A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4 152. As per RBI, Gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio for NBFCs has increased to how much percent at end-March 2017? A) 4.1% B) 3.5% C) 2.9% D) 5% 153. Tata Teleservices has announced to merge its consumer mobile business operations with? A) Vodafone B) Reliance Jio C) Bharti Airtel D) RCom 154. Which state has recently approved reservations for persons with disabilities in government jobs and educational institutions? A) Bihar B) Kerala C) Punjab D) Odisha 155. Week 9th to 14th October, 2017 has been celebrated by the government to promote which scheme? A) Beti Bachao Beti Padhao B) Swachh Bharat C) UDAN D) Ujala 156. Which company recently launched India's third biggest IPO of Rs 11,370 crore? A) ONGC B) SBI C) NALCO D) GIC Re 157. India has denounced signing the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) as a non-nuclear weapon states (NNWS). Who is the India's Permanent Representative to the Conference on isarmament? A) Syed Akbaruddin B) Vikas Swarup C) Amandeep Singh Gill D) Atul Khare 158. Which state government has launched a web portal named ‘MahaLabharthi', to help people get information about all the government schemes? A) Andhra Pradesh B) Maharashtra C) Jharkhand D) Kerala 159. What is Delhi's rank on the Safe Cities Index by The Economist, which ranked 60 cities? A) 38 B) 60 C) 43 D) 57 160. Which company recently unveiled its new line of computer chips named "Pegasus", for self-driving vehicle? A) Honeywell B) Nvidia C) Graftek D) Interphase 161. Who has become the first cricketer from Bangladesh to be inducted in the MCC World Cricket Committee under the chairmanship of Mike Gatting? A) Mahmudullah B) Tamim Iqbal C) Mashrafe Mortaza D) Shakib Al Hasan 162. International Day for Disaster Reduction' was observed with the 2017 theme "Home Safe Home: Reducing Exposure, Reducing Displacement", on? A) Oct 13 B) Oct 11 C) Oct 14 D) Oct 12

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163. What is India's rank out of 119 countries ranked on the Global Hunger Index by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)? A) 72 B) 100 C) 113 D) 86 164. European Securities & Markets Authority (ESMA) has certified 'MCCIL', the clearing arm of which stock exchange as third country central counterparty? A) OTCEI B) ASE C) MSE D) DSE 165. LG Electronics India has partnered with which company to launch an exclusive co-branded EMI card to allow customers to buy LG products at no cost EMI option? A) Bajaj Finance B) HDFC Bank C) Tata Capital D) Axis Bank 166. Which country recently launched its fourth Michibiki satellite for a new high-precision global positioning system? A) China B) South Korea C) Japan D) Mongolia 167. Who is going to head the commission being constituted to recommend a new salary tructure for Judges of lower courts? A) VN Khare B) P Sathasivam C) Kurian Joseph D) PV Reddi 168. Which of the following has become the first Indian Oil Company to enter the lubricant market in Myanmar? A) IOL B) BPCL C) IOCL D) HPCL 169. Who has become the first Indian ambassador of Laureus? A) R Ashwin B) Virat Kohli C) MS Dhoni D) Yuvraj Singh 170. ICC has given its nod to a test championship and one-day international league. How many out of the 12 test-approved countries will initially be a part of the championship? A) 10 B) 9 C) 6 D) 4 171. Who has been appointed as the new Director-General of UNESCO? A) Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari B) Audrey Azoulay C) Irina Bokova D) Frauke Petry 172. RBI has issued final guidelines for prepaid payment instruments (PPI). The cash loading limit per month has been fixed at? A) Rs 50,000 B) Rs 25,000 C) Rs 75,000 D) Rs 20,000 173. Which of the following World Bank backed, skill development schemes have been approved by the Cabinet? 1. SAMARTH 2. SAMRIDDHI 3. STRIVE 4. SANKALP A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4 174. World Bank has reduced India's GDP growth forecast for 2017-18 from 7.2% to? A) 6.9% B) 6.6% C) 7% D) 6.8% 175. Which state government has approved a climate change adaptation policy to develop environment-friendly villages and cities? A) Telangana B) Maharashtra C) Chhattisgarh D) Gujarat 176. Gujarat government has decided to set up how many new GIDC estates with an estimated investment of Rs 15,000 crore? A) 10 B) 16 C) 5 D) 9 177. As per a report by LinkedIn, what is India's rank in terms of global pharmaceuticals and biotechnology workforce? A) 12th B) 9th C) 5th D) 2nd 178. The first meeting of Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC), headed by newly appointed Bibek Debroy, was recently held in? A) Mumbai B) Gandhinagar C) New Delhi D) Varanasi 179. Which state government has announced ration cards for nomadic tribes living across the state? A) Assam B) Chhattisgarh C) Jharkhand D) Haryana 180. Union Cabinet has approved signing of an MoU by SEBI with Capital Markets Authority (CMA) of? A) Egypt B) Kuwait C) Singapore D) Sweden

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181. Who has taken over charge as Vistara's CEO post receiving all the necessary approvals from GoI and regulatory authorities? A) Phee Teik Yeoh B) Jin Yun Kai C) Giam Ming Toh D) Leslie Thng 182. Which of the following countries have announced to withdraw from UNESCO, effective Dec 2018? 1. Israel 2. US 3. UK 4. Australia A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4 183. 48th Conference of Governors was recently held at? A) New Delhi B) Puducherry C) Chandigarh D) New Raipur 184. Which space agency recently launched the EchoStar 105/SES-11 satellite and successfully landed its reusable booster on the droneship station in the Atlantic? A) ESA B) SpaceX C) ISRO D) NASA 185. RBI has asked the mobile wallet firms to ensure KYC compliance of existing users by Dec 31, 2017. Consumers failing to complete KYC will be allowed to keep only up to? A) Rs 15,000 B) Rs 10,000 C) Rs 25,000 D) Rs 20,000 186. Who chaired the first meeting of International Oil and Gas think-tank formed by the government? A) Daniel Yergin B) K V Kamath C) Dharmendra Pradhan D) Satish Pai 187. Which of the following chief ministers flagged off a fleet of 50 buses under the 'Sankalp Seva' service in the state capital to connect 6,000 villages? A) Vijay Rupani B) Yogi Aditynath C) Shivraj Singh Chouhan D) Raman Singh 188. Which bank has announced to set up India's largest innovation centre in Mumbai at Rs 100 crore? A) State Bank of India B) Bank of Baroda C) ICICI Bank D) HDFC Bank 189. Which bank has launched the initiative called 'SME Assist', to provide short-term working capital demand loans to its MSME clients? A) Punjab National Bank B) Bank of Baroda C) State Bank of India D) Canara Bank 190. In a first, which country has announced to grant full citizenship in exchange for 44 bitcoin? A) Samoa B) Nauru C) Tuvalu D) Vanuatu 191. Ram Singh Yadav, who recently passed away, was a Congress MLA from? A) Madhya Pradesh B) Rajasthan C) Haryana D) Uttar Pradesh 192. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi of which nation has extended the state of emergency for another three months? A) Egypt B) Algeria C) Tunisia D) Bahrain 193. Who has won the gold medal at 2017 Egypt Junior and Cadet Table Tennis pen? A) Ayushi Sudan B) Tanai Sultania C) Selena Selvakumar D) Anvesha Reddy 194. IMF has suggested 3 approaches for structural reform in India. Which of the following is not one of them? A) Incentive structures within government B) Address the corporate and banking sector weaknesses C) Continue with the fiscal consolidation through revenue measures D) Improving the efficiency of labour and product markets and further agricultural reforms 195. Who has been selected for the Padma Prabha Puraskaram 2017 by Padma Prabha Memorial Trust? A) M P Veerendra Kumar B) C. Radhakrishnan C) Prabha Varma D) S Mukundan

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196. Birsa Munda Tribal University has been inaugur ated in which state? A) Odisha B) Jharkhand C) Chhattisgarh D) Gujarat 197. Which metro corporation has launched a scheme of 100-hours free bicycle ride per month? A) Chennai B) Lucknow C) Kochi D) Mumbai 198. Appointment Committee of the Cabinet has appointed how many new secretaries to various government departments? A) 19 B) 11 C) 6 D) 15 199. Pakistan has recently launched its first metro train service, called the Orange Line Metro Train service in which city? A) Islamabad B) Karachi C) Lahore D) Peshawar 200. Scientists from which country have developed a military watch which can resist high impact, including nuclear blast? A) Japan B) China C) India D) Russia 201. Who has become the youngest Indian celebrity to have his wax statue at Madame Tussauds, Hong Kong? A) Varun Dhawan B) Alia Bhatt C) Tiger Shroff D) Siddharth Malhotra 202. Which country has banned the import of fruit and vegetables to save scarce foreign currency? A) Zambia B) Botswana C) Zimbabwe D) Malawi 203. Which Konkani folk artiste has been selected for 2017 'Kalakar Puraskar' by Mandd Sobhann committee? A) Guru Prasad B) Dipen Anand C) Subhankar Mohapatra D) Gopal Gowda 204. The provisions of the FDDI Act 2017 have come into force and it has been granted the status of 'Institute of National Importance'. FDDI was established by which ministry? A) Skill Development and Entrepreneurship B) Labour and Employment C) Commerce and Industry D) Human Resource Development 205. Who is the inspiration of the documentary titled "An Insignificant Man", which has been released recently? A) Arvind Kejriwal B) Manohar Parrikar C) Narendra Modi D) Rahul Gandhi 206. Which country's naval ship 'Somudra Avijan' has arrived at Visakhapatnam on a goodwill visit? A) Sri Lanka B) Myanmar C) Cambodia D) Bangladesh 207. Which fine dining restaurant has been ranked first in India and second in Asia by Trip Advisor in its Travellers’ Choice awards? A) Veda B) Indian Accent C) The Lodi D) Potbelly 208. What was the 2017 theme of World Food Day observed on Oct 16 to commemorate the founding of Food and Agriculture Organization? A) Change the future of migration. Invest in food security and rural development B) Feeding the world, caring for the earth C) Climate is changing. Food and agriculture must too D) Social Protection and Agriculture: Breaking the Cycle of Rural Poverty 209. Which country has announced to quit the precautionary Flexible Credit Line (FCL) from IMF worth $9.2 billion? A) Poland B) Finland C) Sweden D) Norway 210. Which bank has launched an Android app, named 'Union Sahyog'? A) State Bank of India B) Union Bank of India C) Corporation Bank D) Oriental Bank of Commerce 211. Who has become one of the youngest millionaires in UK, by starting an online real state agency “doorsteps.co.uk”? A) Vinay Nayak B) Sumit Bhatia C) Vivek Nandan D) Akshay Ruparelia 212. Who has been awarded the 1st Centenary National Award for Literature by Assam Sahitya Sabha? A) Suman Mohanty B) Ganga Singh C) Saumya Jha D) Namita Gokhale

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213. Which state's police has launched an initiative where foot-patrol officers will keep a watch across all districts? A) Uttarakhand B) Haryana C) Himachal Pradesh D) Punjab 214. Who is the author of the recently released book 'The Coalition Years: 1996-2012'? A) Manmohan Singh B) Sonia Gandhi C) Hamid Ansari D) Pranab Mukherjee 215. Which of the following is the indigenously-built anti-submarine warfare stealth corvette which has been commissioned into the Indian Navy recently? A) INS Kiltan B) INS Kirch C) INS Kulish D) INS Khukri 216. Which city is going to host the India International Cherry Blossom Festival? A) Agartala B) Shillong C) Imphal D) Gangtok 217. Which state has launched Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana for farmers that aims to cushion them from price crashes? A) Maharashtra B) Andhra Pradesh C) Madhya Pradesh D) Uttar Pradesh 218. Which of the following has emerged as the most authentic brand in India as per the '2017 Authentic Brands Study' by Cohn & Wolfe? A) Maruti Suzuki B) Microsoft C) Google D) Amazon 219. When was 'International Day of Rural Women' observed with the 2017 theme “Challenges and opportunities in climate-resilient agriculture for gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls”? A) Oct 16 B) Oct 19 C) Oct 17 D) Oct 15 220. Which High Court ruled that retail wine shops and barsin scheduled area villages be permitted only after gram sabha's consent? A) Madras B) Calcutta C) Hyderabad D) Bombay 221. Who is going to be conferred with the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration for 2015-16? A) T M Krishna B) Sanjay Subrahmanyan C) P. Unnikrishnan D) Jayendra Panchapakesan 222. Moody’s Investors Service has affirmed the ratings on State Bank of India’s local and foreign currency deposits of? A) A3/P-1 B) Baa1-P-2 C) Baa3/P-3 D) Ba1/P-2 223. Which bank has signed an MoU with Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) for cross -border exchange between the fintech ecosystems of UAE & India? A) Yes Bank B) IDFC Bank C) DCB Bank D) Federal Bank 224. Who won the women's singles title at the Tianjin Open? A) Anastasija Sevastova B) Maria Sharapova C) Ana Ivanović D) Aryna Sabalenka 225. World Students Day, which was celebrated on Oct 15, is the birth anniversary of? A) S Radhakrishnan B) B. K. S. Iyengar C) APJ Abdul Kalam D) Rajendra Prasad 226. How many Indian peacekeepers stationed in South Sudan have been awarded the UN Medal for being a part of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS)? A) 30 B) 50 C) 20 D) 60 227. Which state government's Directorate of Treasuries and Inspection has signed an MoU with SBI for integration of SBI e-Pay with cyber treasury? A) Andhra Pradesh B) Gujarat C) Odisha D) Karnataka 228. Which Indian city has been ranked as one of the world's worst megacities for sexual violence against women in a survey by Thomson Reuters Foundation? A) Chandigarh B) Delhi C) Bengaluru D) Mumbai 229. Which of the following banks has bought Bharat Financial Inclusion in a deal worth $2.4 billion? A) Axis Bank B) Yes Bank C) IndusInd Bank D) Kotak Mahindra Bank 230. What is the name of the project launched by Agriculture Ministry to boost the horticulture sector by using remote sensing technology and likely to be completed by March? A) VARDHAN B) CHAMAN C) BAGH D) KRISHI

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231. Which of the following is working with states to adopt first set of agri market reforms? A) NITI Aayog B) Department of Agriculture, Co-operation and Farmers Welfare C) Department of Agriculture Research and Education D) Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries 232. Richard Wilbur, who recently passed away, was a famous? A) Astrophysicist B) Poet C) Activist D) Cyclist 233. Indian Naval aircraft P81, reached which country to search for ten Indians missing after the capsize of cargo ship “Emerald Star”? A) Taiwan B) Vietnam C) Cambodia D) Philippines 234. Which company has launched the initiative 'Prerna' for empowering Indian women in agriculture on the occasion of Mahila Kisan Diwas celebrated on Oct 15? A) TATA Group B) Patanjali Ayurved C) Mahindra & Mahindra D) Hindustan Unilever 235. BNP Paribas has tied up with which company to transform its platform 'Corporate Event Connect' using blockchain technology? A) Infosys B) TCS C) Wipro D) HCL 236. Which of the following acts have recently come into force? A) Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Bill, 2017 B) Bureau of Indian Standards Act 2016 C) Inter-State River Water Disputes Bill, 2017 D) Repealing and Amending Bill, 2017 237. Which of the following exchanges launched an option’s contract in gold on the occasion of Dhanteras? A) NCDEX B) NSE C) BSE D) MCX 238. Who is going to be the CEO of the combined entity of Bharti Airtel and Millicom International Cellular, who recently announced completion of the deal to merge their operations in Ghana? A) Joseph Muzenda B) Roshi Motman C) Arthur Mutambara D) Jonathan Moyo 239. Which state has a major share, with over 39% cancer cases recorded in India? A) Haryana B) West Bengal C) Karnataka D) Uttar Pradesh 240. SEBI has formed a committee to review regulations and relevant circulars pertaining to market infrastructure institutions (MIIs). It is to be headed by? A) R Gandhi B) G Anantharaman C) Gopal Naik D) Leo Puri 241. Lekh Tandon, who recently passed away, was associated with? A) Literature B) Politics C) Sports D) Films 242. How many nations have been elected to serve on the United Nations Human Rights Council? A) 10 B) 15 C) 18 D) 12 243. Who has won the Man Booker Prize for 2017 for his novel "Lincoln in the Bardo"? A) David Foster Wallace B) Jonathan Franzen C) Dave Eggers D) George Saunders 244. Punyaslok Dasgupta, who recently passed away, was a? A) Diplomat B) Poet C) Social Activist D) Filmmaker 245. AYUSH Festival of Stamps is going to be held in? A) West Bengal B) Delhi C) Kerala D) Goa 246. What is the name of the online campaign launched by MoWCD to end gender bias in women against women? A) #IamThatWoman B) #WomenForWomen C) #UniteWeFight D) #SecureWeStand 247. Which of the following companies has partnered with Textile Ministry to work directly with weavers and promote the handloom industry? A) Amazon B) Voonik C) Ajio D) Myntra 248. Which company has announced a global strategic partnership with Hyperloop One? A) Virgin Group B) Lufthansa C) Air France D) Emirates

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249. World's first 'negative emissions' power plant has become operational in? A) Switzerland B) Sweden C) Norway D) Iceland 250. Global Handwashing Day was observed on? A) Oct 18 B) Oct 15 C) Oct 17 D) Oct 16 251. Which state has become the first to call attention and adjournment motions and proposals online from legislators? A) Karnataka B) Rajasthan C) Gujarat D) Andhra Pradesh 252. Which team won the 37th All India Governor's Gold Cup football tournament for the 10th time held at Gangtok? A) East Bengal B) Partha Chakra C) Mohun Bagan D) Shillong Lajong 253. Olympic gold medal-winning sailor Robert Scheidt has announced his retirement from Olympic competition. He belongs to which country? A) Brazil B) Netherlands C) Germany D) Switzerland 254. International Day for the Eradication of Poverty was observed on? A) Oct 18 B) Oct 17 C) Oct 19 D) Oct 15 255. Election Commission has announced to conduct polls in a single phase from 9th November 2017 in which state? A) Gujarat B) Karnataka C) Himachal Pradesh D) Tripura 256. Who has been conferred with 3rd American Bazaar Philanthropy award? A) Ranjan Sahu B) Archit Yadav C) Ajay Raju D) Neeraj Agarwal 257. Roy Dotrice, who recently passed away, was a famous? A) Actor B) Journalist C) Singer D) Politician 258. How many students from the SR Engineering College, Telangana will take part in the 5th annual NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge to be held in 2018? A) 10 B) 8 C) 2 D) 5 259. A bench headed by which Justice of Supreme Court has disagreed the judgement given in July, which diluted the rigour of Section 498A of IPC which warrants immediate arrest in a dowry- linked complaint? A) Adarsh Kumar Goel B) Dipak Misra C) D Y Chandrachud D) U U Lalit 260. As per Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), in order to increase the capacity of handling 500- 600 million passengers at its airports by 2030, India needs to invest up to? A) $85 billion B) $25 billion C) $45 billion D) $65 billion 261. Who heads the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, which will examine the operational preparedness of the armed forces and review the accidents involving strategic defence assets?

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A) Janardan Mishra B) Daddan Mishra C) Ajay Tamta D) B C Khanduri 262. 63rd Annual National Conference of Association of Physiologists and harmacologists of India, named APPICON 2017, was recently held at? A) Panaji B) Puducherry C) Shillong D) New Delhi 263. Who has become the first Indian woman to sign with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)? A) Geeta Devi B) Kavita Devi C) Bindu Singh D) Garima Singh 264. Pakistan has signed an MoU with which country to improve border security management? A) Iran B) Afghanistan C) India D) China 265. Who won the men's singles title at the Shanghai Masters? A) Roger Federer B) Andy Murray C) Rafael Nadal D) Nick Kyrgios 266. In a first, which state has announced to set up a scheduled caste advisory council? A) Bihar B) Odisha C) Kerala D) West Bengal 267. First ever All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), was inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi on 'Ayurveda Day' on October 17, in? A) Kochi B) Pune C) New Delhi D) Coimbatore 268. Who has been conferred with the Life Time Achievement Award at the 2nd British Asian Achievers Awards, organised by Jagatwani? A) Swraj Paul B) Firoz Kassam C) Prakash Hinduja D) Lakshmi Mittal 269. Which of the following is going to invest $1billion in the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF)? A) Muscat Investment Authority B) Riyadh Investment Authority C) Doha Investment Authority D) Abu Dhabi Investment Authority 270. In a first, which Indian girl won the sub-title of ‘best performer’ at the ‘Little Miss World 2017’ pageant held in Greece? A) Prerna Dixit B) Abhilasha Sharma C) Navya Singla D) Poorvi G B 271. ICC has approved a trial test series between which of the following countries? 1. India 2. South Africa 3. Zimbabwe 4. Australia A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4 272. Who has been appointed as the MD & CEO of Voltas? A) Anil George B) Pradeep Bakshi C) Deepak Saini D) Sanjay Johri 273. Shamsher Khan, who recently passed away, was India's Olympic first? A) Cyclist B) Shooter C) Swimmer D) Sprinter

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274. Who is the author of the recently released book "Beyond the Dream Girl”? A) Dileep Jaiswal B) Ashutosh Dwivedi C) Ram Kamal Mukherjee D) Sharath Chandra 275. Haryana government recently approved to rename which village to Abhimanyupur? A) Amin B) Beersika C) Dewarhu D) Atali 276. Who have been appointed as the two new members in the Railway Board? 1. Mayank Chaturvedi 2. Milind Bapna 3. D K Gayen 4. Mahesh Kumar Gupta A) 1 & 2 B) 2 & 3 C) 3 & 4 D) 1 & 4 277. World Spine Day was observed, with theme "Your Back in Action", on? A) Oct 16 B) Oct 15 C) Oct 17 D) Oct 18 278. Which bank has selected Intellect Design Arena's iGTB Digital Transaction Banking Platform as technology partner to implement cash management platform and corporate portal? A) Standard Chartered B) Bangkok Bank C) DBS Bank D) Siam Commercial Bank 279. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will participate in the 6th Annual LNG Producers Consumer Conference to be held in? A) Austria B) Qatar C) Japan D) Nigeria

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ANSWER KEYS 1 d 2 b 3 c 4 b 5 c 6 b 7 d 8 c 9 c 10 d 11 a 12 b 13 a 14 d 15 c 16 d 17 c 18 b 19 d 20 a 21 d 22 c 23 a 24 a 25 d 26 d 27 b 28 c 29 c 30 d 31 b 32 b 33 c 34 c 35 d 36 a 37 d 38 d 39 a 40 c 41 b 42 b 43 b 44 b 45 a 46 b 47 b 48 b 49 a 50 a 51 a 52 a 53 b 54 d 55 a 56 b 57 a 58 b 59 a 60 a 61 b 62 a 63 a 64 b 65 b 66 c 67 d 68 b 69 c 70 a 71 a 72 d 73 a 74 d 75 c 76 c 77 a 78 c 79 b 80 c 81 b 82 d 83 c 84 b 85 d 86 c 87 a 88 c 89 b 90 d 91 a 92 d 93 a 94 d 95 a 96 d 97 c 98 d 99 d 100 c 101 c 102 a 103 c 104 d 105 d 106 c 107 a 108 b 109 a 110 c 111 a 112 a 113 b 114 a 115 b 116 d 117 d 118 d 119 c 120 c 121 d 122 a 123 b 124 b 125 d 126 a 127 a 128 b 129 d 130 d 131 d 132 c 133 b 134 c 135 d 136 b 137 a 138 b 139 c 140 c 141 c 142 a 143 c 144 a 145 d 146 a 147 d 148 b 149 c 150 a 151 a 152 d 153 c 154 a 155 a 156 d 157 c 158 b 159 c 160 b 161 d 162 a 163 b 164 c 165 a 166 c 167 d 168 d 169 d 170 b 171 b 172 a 173 c 174 c 175 b 176 b 177 d 178 c 179 d 180 b 181 d 182 a 183 a 184 b 185 b 186 c 187 b 188 a 189 c 190 d 191 a 192 a 193 c 194 a 195 c 196 d 197 a 198 b 199 c 200 d 201 a 202 a 203 d 204 c 205 a 206 d 207 b 208 a 209 a 210 b 211 d 212 d 213 d 214 d 215 a 216 b 217 b 218 c 219 d 220 c 221 a 222 c 223 a 224 b 225 c 226 b 227 c 228 b 229 c 230 b 231 a 232 b 233 d 234 c 235 b 236 b 237 d 238 b 239 a 240 a 241 d 242 b 243 d 244 b 245 d 246 a 247 d 248 a 249 d 250 b 251 b 252 c 253 a 254 b 255 c 256 c 257 a 258 d 259 b 260 c 261 d 262 b 263 b 264 a 265 a 266 d 267 c 268 a 269 d 270 d 271 b 272 b 273 c 274 c 275 a 276 c 277 a 278 b 279 c

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