MONTHLY ISSUE - MAY - 2016 CurrVanik’s ent Affairs Banking | Railway | Insurance | SSC | UPSC | OPSC | PSU 47th ailway & SSC or Banking, R Leading Institute f Now at Two Practice Set for RRB (Non-Tech) Practice Set for IBPS-PO (Main) CUTTACK Practice Set for CGL-2016 ) Regular BANKING (PO, CLERKom New Batch Starts Fr 8am-10am Vanik’s Page 7th April 2016 | Time : 200 Updated MCQs @ 150+ One Liners C U Regular SSC/Railway 40 MCQs on Computers T ts From T New Batch Star 100 GK for SSC & Railway A C Time : 8am-12.30pm Vanik’s Knowledge Garden K 7th April 2016 | Leading Institute for Banking, Railway & SSC P u b l i c a t i o n s VANIK'S PAGE Rivers of Major World Cities City Country River Alexandria Egypt Nile Amsterdam Netherlands Amstel Baghdad Iraq Tigris Bangkok Thailand Chao Phray a Belgrade Yugoslavia Danube, Sav a Berlin Germany Spree, Havel Bogotá Colombia Bogotá Brussels Belgium Senne Budapest Hungary Danube Buenos Aires Argentina Río de la Plata Cairo Egypt Nile Calcutta India Hugli Damascus Syria Barada Delhi India Yamuna Dublin Ireland LIffey Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam Saigon Hong Kong China Pearl Jakarta Indonesia Liwung Kiev Ukraine Dnieper Lisbon Portugal Tagus Lima Peru Rímac London England Thames Madrid Spain Manzanares Melbourne Australia Yarra Montreal Canada St. Lawrence Moscow Russia Moskva Paris France Seine Prague Czech Republic Moldau Rome Italy Tiber Saint Petersburg Russia Neva Santiago Chile Mapocho São Paulo Brazil Tietê Seoul South Korea Han Shanghai China Huangpu Tokyo Japan Sumida Vienna Austria Danube Warsaw Poland Vistula Zagreb Croatia Sava Zürich Switzerland Limmat, Sihl MAGAZINE FOR THE MONTH OF MAY - 2016 VANIK’S MAGAZINE FOR THE MONTH OF MAY - 2016 B – 61 A & B, Saheed Nagar & Plot-1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRP Square, Bhubaneswar 1 Leading Institute for Banking, Railway & SSC Ph. : (0674) 6556677, 8093556677. Web : www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] Message from Director Vanik Publications EDITOR Dear Students, Mr. Pramod Padhi Attitude and Skill enhance knowledge to a considerable extent. A proper ASSOCIATE EDITORS Satabdi Sagar Mohanty cambination of the three brings out success in average student. There is no end to Samarendra Narayan Sahoo acquiring knowledge. In your passion for knowledge we at VANIK are trying our ADVISORS G. Khatua best as your mentor to expose you to the best of things. Each day you are exposed B. R. Das PUBLISHING MANAGER to new challanges & feel confident that at your back is “TEAM VANIK” to help Smrutiranjan Chhatoi you atall the levels of your preparation. DESIGNING & LAYOUT Vijaya Moharana Publisher : Subrat Kumar Chhatoi Printed and Published by : Vanik Publication Printed at : Bhagabati Press Best of Luck Subrat Kumar Chhatoi Plot-1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRP Square, Bhubaneswar Website : www.vanik.org | Phone : 0674-6556677, 8093-556677 _____________________________________________________ © Copyright Reserved No part of this magazine can be printed in whole or part without the written permission of the publisher. The editor and publisher have tried their best to verify the factual accuracy of the informations published, but do not take any responsibility for the absolute accuracy of the informations in the magazine. All disputes subject to Bhubaneswar (Odisha) Jurisdiction. CONTENTS Topics Page No Events of the Month 4 International news 7 National news 9 Bilateral 12 Economy and Banking 14 Award and Honour 17 Book and Author 19 Person in news 19 Places in news 20 Sports 21 Science and Technology 22 Environment and Ecology 23 Defence 23 Recent Summit in News 24 Committee and its Function 25 Date and Observation 25 International and National institution 26 State news 27 Recent government devlopement and scheme 29 200 MCQ current affairs 31 40 MCQ of Computer 39 Abbreviation 41 Descriptive English 42 Word of the Month 43 Banking Terminology 44 Miscellaneous G.K. for SSC and Railway 46 Practice Set : RRB (Non-Tech) Set-1 51 RRB (Non-Tech) Set-2 56 IBPS-PO (MAIN) 61 SSC-CGL(Tier-I) 76 Who’s Who? 87 One Liner 91 MAGAZINE FOR THE MONTH OF MAY - 2016 EVENTS OF THE MONTH Banks have now been allowed to include some items, UNLOCKS RS. 40,000 such as property value and foreign exchange, for RBI calculation of Tier 1 capital (CET1), instead of Tier CRORE ADDITIONAL CAPITAL FOR 2 capital. As per RBI norms, CET1 capital, comprising paid- BANKS up equity capital, statutory reserves, capital reserves, other disclosed free reserves (if any), and The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has revised norms on capital balance in P&L Account at the end of the previous recognition, making available an additional Rs.40,000 crore fiscal year, must be at least 5.5% of risk-weighted to Indian banks. assets. However, it has kept other rates unchanged. This is the second time in a row that interest rates have been left unchanged amid demands for moderation IFC LAUNCHES MASALA to spur growth. The repo rate, at which the Reserve Bank of India BONDS TO MOBILISE RS. 30 lends to banks, has been retained at 8%, while the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) for banks has been cut by 0.5% to 22.5% with effect from June 14. CRORE The cash reserve ratio for banks has been kept unchanged at 4%. International Finance Corporation (IFC) — a member of the Significance of this move: World Bank group—has launched its firstUridashi Masala bonds, mobilising R30 crore directly from Japanese household The move comes at a time when public sector banks investors to promote private sector development in India. are facing pressure on their profitability due to a sharp rise in non-performing assets, which is The three-year bond builds on IFC’s Masala bond programme, which has raised the equivalent of $1.7 eroding their capital base. billion from international investors for investment The announcement is a big relief for, mainly, public in India. sector banks. Finance minister Arun Jaitley also announced in his budget speech a capital infusion Proceeds from IFC’s Uridashi Masala bonds will be used to support private sector investment in India. of Rs. 25,000 crore for the fiscal year starting in Uridashi bonds are sold to Japanese household April. investors. However, the minister did not make any increases What are Masala Bonds? to the capital infusion amount that was decided in The term is used to refer to rupee-denominated borrowings August 2015. by Indian entities in overseas markets. The International Many public sector banks reported huge losses for Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World the quarter ended December 2015 after the RBI asked Bank, last November, issued a Rs. 1,000 crore bond to fund lenders to identify several accounts as non- infrastructure projects in India. These bonds were listed on performing. Banks are expected to post weak the London Stock Exchange (LSE). IFC then named them earnings in the current quarter too. Masala bonds to give a local flavour by calling to mind Indian Other details: culture and cuisine. The revised norms will give PSBs access to While it may seem odd to name a staid debt additional capital of 35,000 crore, while it could be instrument after food stuffs, it has been done in the about 5,000 crore for private sector banks. past. Chinese bonds, named Dim-sum bonds after a The unlocking of capital follows a review carried by popular dish in Hong Kong, have been around for the RBI with the aim of further aligning the definition while. So have Japanese bonds named Samurai after of regulatory capital with the globally adopted Basel III norms. the country’s warrior class. Why is it important? These standards aim to improve the banking sector’s Masala bonds, if they take off, can be quite a significant plus ability to absorb shocks arising from financial stress for the Indian economy. They are issued to foreign investors and improve risk management and governance. and settled in US dollars. Hence the currency risk lies with the investor and not the issuer, unlike external commercial B – 61 A & B, Saheed Nagar & Plot-1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRP Square, Bhubaneswar 4 Leading Institute for Banking, Railway & SSC Ph. : (0674) 6556677, 8093556677. Web : www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] MAGAZINE FOR THE MONTH OF MAY - 2016 borrowings (ECBs), where Indian companies raise money in provides for the remaining 25 per cent of the debt to be paid foreign currency loans. back through discom-issued bonds.Total discom debt in the While ECBs help companies take advantage of the country amounts to Rs.4.3 lakh crore. lower interest rates in international markets, the cost ABOUT UDAY SCHEME: of hedging the currency risk can be significant. If UDAY is an effort to make these DISCOMs financially and unhedged, adverse exchange rate movements can operationally healthy, to be able to supply adequate power come back to bite the borrower. But in the case of at affordable rates, and enable the Governments to make Masala bonds, the cost of borrowing can work out efforts towards 100% Village electrification and 24X7 Power much lower. For All. About the International Finance Corporation (IFC): It envisages to reduce interest burden, cost of power The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an and AT&C losses. Consequently, DISCOM would international financial institution that offers investment, become sustainable to supply adequate and reliable advisory, and asset management services to encourage power enabling 24×7 power supply. private sector development in developing countries. The scheme provides that States would take over It is a member of the World Bank Group and is 75% debt of Discoms, as on 30th September, 2015 in headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States.