SOME IMPORTANT DAYS & DATES WE SHOULD KNOW:

JANUARY
Jan 1-Global Family Day.
Jan 12-Youth's Day.
Jan 15-Army Day.
Jan 23-Birth Anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
Jan 26-Republic Day.
Jan 26-International Customs Day.
Jan 28-Birth anniversary of Lala Lajpat Rai.
Jan 28-Data Protection Day.
Jan 30-Martyr Day.
Jan 30-World Leprosy Eradication Day.

FEBRUARY
Feb 4-World Cancer Day.
Feb 5-Kashmir Day.
Feb 6-International Day against Female Genital Mutilation.
Feb 12-Darwin Day.
Feb 12-World Day of the Sick.
Feb 14-Valentine’s Day.
Feb 20-World Day of Social Justice.
Feb 21-International Mother Language Day.
Feb 22-World Scout Day.
Feb 23- World Peaces and Understanding Day.

MARCH
Mar 4-World Day of the Fight Against Sexual Exploitation.
Mar 8-International Womens' Day.
Mar 13-World Kidney Day.
Mar 13-World Rotaract Day.
Mar 15-World Consumer Rights Day.
Mar 20-International Day of the Francophonie.
Mar 20-World Day of Theatre for Children and Young People.
Mar 21-World Sleep Day.
Mar 21-World Forestry Day.
Mar 21-International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Mar 22-World Water Day.
Mar 23-World Meteorological Day.
Mar 24-World TB Day.
Mar 24-International Day for Achievers.
Mar 25-International Day of Remembrance - Victims of Slavery and Transatlantic Slave Trade.
Mar 27-World Drama Day.

APRIL
Apr 1-Foolish's Day.
Apr 2-World Austism Awareness Day.
Apr 7-World Health Day.
April 17-World Haemophilia Day.
April 18-World Heritage Day.
April 22-Earth Day.
April 23-World Book and Copyright Day.
April 25-World Malaria Day.
April 29-International Dance Day.

MAY
May 1-International Labour Day.
May 3-Press Freedom Day.
May 4-Coal Miners Day.
May 8-World Red Cross Day.
May 9-Victory Day.
May 11-National Technology Day.
May 12-International Nurses Day.
May 14-World Migratory Day.
May 15-International Day of the Family.
May 17-World Information Society Day.
May 21-Anti-Terrorism Day.
May 31-World No Tobacco Day.

JUNE
Jun 4-International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression.
Jun 5-World Environment Day.
Jun 7-International Level Crossing Awareness Day.
Jun 8-World Oceans Day.
Jun 12-World Day against Child Labour.
Jun 14-World Blood Donor Day.
Jun 17-World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.
Jun 20-World Refugee Day.
Jun 23-United Nations Public Service Day.
Jun 23-International Widow's Day.
Jun 26-International Day against Drug Abuse and IIlicit Trafficking.
Jun 27-International Diabetes Day.

JULY
Jul 1-Vanamahotsav Day.
Jul 1-National Doctor's Day.
Jul 11-World Population Day.
Jul 12-Malala Day.
Jul 18-Nelson Mandela International Day.
July 28-World Nature Conservation Day.
Jul 30-International Day of Friendship.

AUGUST
Aug 3-Independence Day of Niger.
Aug 5-Independence Day of Upper Volta.
Aug 9-International Day of the World's Indigenous People.
Aug 12-International Youth Day.
Aug 15-Independence Day(India).
Aug 23-International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition.
Aug 29-National Sports Day (Birthday of Dhyan Chand).

SEPTEMBER
Sept 5-Teachers' Day  (Dr. Radhakrishnan's Birth Day).
Sept 7-Forgiveness Day.
Sept 8-International Literacy Day.
Sept 14-Hindi Day.
Sept 14-World First Aid Day.
Sept 16-World Ozone Day.
Sept 21-International Day of Peace.
Sept 21-World Alzheimer's Day.
Sept 25-Social Justice Day.
Sept 27-World Tourism Day.

OCTOBER
Oct 1-International Day of Older Persons.
Oct 2-Birth Anniversary Of Gandhiji.
Oct 2-International Day of Non-Violence.
Oct 3-World Nature Day.
Oct 3-World Habitat Day.
Oct 4-World Animal Day.
Oct 5-World Teacher's Day.
Oct 8-Indian Air-force Day.
Oct 9-World Post Day.
Oct 11-International Girl Child Day.
Oct 12-World Arthritis Da.
Oct 14-World Standards Day.
Oct 15-World Students Day.
Oct 16-World Food Day.
Oct 17-International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
Oct 20-World Statistics Day.
Oct 24-United Nations Day.
Oct 31-World Thrift Day.

NOVEMBER
Nov 1-Kannada Rajyotsav (Karnataka)
Nov 1-World Vegan Day.
Nov 5-World Radiography Day.
Nov 9-World Services Day.
Nov 14 -Children's Day. (Birth Anniversary of Jawahar Lal Nehru).
Nov 16-International Day for Endurance.
Nov 17-International Students Day.
Nov 17-National Journalism Day.
Nov 18-World Adult Day.
Nov 19-World Citizen Day.
Nov 20-Universal Children's Day.
Nov 21-World Television Day.
Nov 21-World Fisheries Day.
Nov 25-World Non-Veg Day.
Nov 26-Law Day.
Nov 30-Flag Day.

DECEMBER
Dec 1-World AIDS Day.
Dec 2-World Computer Literacy Day.
Dec 2-International Day for the Abolition of Slavery.
Dec 3-International Day of People with Disability.
Dec 3-World Conservation Day.
Dec 4-Navy Day.
Dec 5-International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development.
Dec 7-International Civil Aviation Day.
Dec 9-The International Day Against Corruption.
Dec 10-International Day of Broadcasting.
Dec 10-Human Rights Day.
Dec 11-International Mountain Day.
Dec 14-World Energy Day.
Dec 18-International Migrants Day.
Dec 19-Goa's Liberation Day.
Dec 20-International Human Solidarity Day.
Dec 29-International Biodiversity Day.

Daily GK Update - 21st May 2015

SBI partners with PayPal
i. The country's largest bank announced a partnership with digital payments firm, PayPal so that the Customers of State Bank of India (SBI) can now use their debit cards on PayPal for buying products from overseas websites.


ii. The partnership will also allow SBI's Micro Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) customers to use PayPal's secure payment solutions.

iii. SBI has also announced a partnership with e-commerce firm, Amazon.com, in India.

India continues to lead in global confidence index
i. India continued to lead the global confidence index in anticipation of improvement in the economy through reforms and stimulus announced by the central government.
ii. India’s consumer confidence score rose to 130 followed by Indonesia (123) and Philippines (115).
iii. Eighty per cent urban Indian respondents indicated that the state of personal finances was good or excellent in the first quarter of 2015.
iv. The Nielsen Global Survey of Consumer Confidence and Spending Intentions, established in 2005, measures consumer confidence, major concerns, and spending intentions among more than 30,000 respondents with Internet access in 60 countries.

Meghalaya, Tripura governors sworn-in
i. Senior BJP leader V Shanmuganathan was today sworn-in as the Governor of Meghalaya at the Raj Bhavan.
ii. Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court Uma Nath Singh administered the oath of office to Shanmuganathan at a solemn ceremony attended by Chief Minister Mukul Sangma and most of his cabinet colleagues.


iii. Tathagata Roy on 20 May 2015 was sworn in as the 16th Governor of Tripura in Agartala.
Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court Mr. Jc. Deepak Gupta administered the oath of office to him as per the provisions of Article 159 of Constitution of India.
iv. He replaced Padmanabh Balkrishna Acharya, Governor of Nagaland, who had held the additional charge of Tripura.

SEBI sets new norms for mutual funds managing offshore assets
i. Markets regulator SEBI on Wednesday simplified norms for domestic mutual funds to manage offshore pooled assets, dropping its "20-25 rule" which requires a minimum of 20 investors and a cap of 25 percent on investment by an individual, for funds from low-risk foreign investors.
ii. In a notification saying the new regulations would be called the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 2015, SEBI said the restrictions would not apply "if the funds managed are of Category I foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and/or Category II foreign portfolio investors which are appropriately regulated broad based funds".

iii. SEBI has classified FPIs into three categories, with the first two being low-risk foreign institutions that include sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, banks, mutual funds, insurers, multilateral institutions and well-regulated foreign entities, including portfolio managers.
Infosys is first Indian company to join RE100 global renewable energy campaign
i. The Climate Group announced that Infosys, one of India's largest Information Technology corporations has become the first Indian company to join RE100, a global platform for major companies committed to 100% renewable power.
ii. As part of its commitment to RE100, Infosys aims to become carbon neutral by 2018.
iii. The company is already working to reduce its per capita electricity consumption by 50 per cent from its 2007-2008 levels and source all its electricity from renewable resources by 2018.


Some Important Banking Terms

RBI – The Reserve Bank of India is the apex bank of the country, which was constituted under the RBI Act, 1934 to regulate the other banks, issue of bank notes and maintenance of reserves with a view to securing the monetary stability in India.
Demand Deposit – A Demand deposit is the one which can be withdrawn at any time, without any notice or penalty; e.g. money deposited in a checking account or savings account in a bank.
Time Deposit – Time deposit is a money deposit at a banking institution that cannot be withdrawn for a certain "term" or period of time. When the term is over it can be withdrawn or it can be held for another term. 
Fixed Deposits – FDs are the deposits that are repayable on fixed maturity date along with the principal and agreed interest rate for the period. Banks pay higher interest rates on FDs than the savings bank account.
Recurring Deposits – These are also called cumulative deposits and in recurring deposit accounts, a certain amounts of savings are required to be compulsorily deposited at specific intervals for a specified period.
Savings Account – Savings account is an account generally maintained by retail customers that deposit money (i.e. their savings) and can withdraw them whenever they need. Funds in these accounts are subjected to low rates of interest.
Current Accounts – These accounts are maintained by the corporate clients that may be operated any number of times in a day. There is a maintenance charge for the current accounts for which the holders enjoy facilities of easy handling, overdraft facility etc.
FCNR Accounts – Foreign Currency Non-Resident accounts are the ones that are maintained by the NRIs in foreign currencies like USD, DM, and GBP etc. The account is a term deposit with interest rates linked to the international rates of interest of the respective currencies.
NRE Accounts – Non-Resident External accounts are the ones in which NRIs remit money in any permitted foreign currency and the remittance is converted to Indian rupees for credit to NRE accounts. The accounts can be in the form of current, saving, FDs, recurring deposits. The interest rates and other terms of these accounts are as per the RBI directives.
Cheque Book - A small, bound booklet of cheques. A cheque is a piece of paper produced by your bank with your account number, sort-code and cheque number printed on it. The account number distinguishes your account from other accounts; the sort-code is your bank's special code which distinguishes it from any other bank.
Cheque Clearing - This is the process of getting the money from the cheque-writer's account into the cheque receiver's account.
Clearing Bank - This is a bank that can clear funds between banks. For general purposes, this is any institution which we know of as a bank or as a provider of banking services.
Bounced Cheque - when the bank has not enough funds in the relevant account or the account holder requests that the cheque is bounced (under exceptional circumstances) then the bank will return the cheque to the account holder. The beneficiary of the cheque will have not been paid. This normally incurs a fee from the bank.
Credit Rating - This is the rating which an individual (or company) gets from the credit industry. This is obtained by the individual's credit history, the details of which are available from specialist organisations like CRISIL in India.
Credit-Worthiness - This is the judgement of an organization which is assessing whether or not to take a particular individual on as a customer. An individual might be considered credit-worthy by one organisation but not by another. Much depends on whether an organization is involved with high risk customers or not.
Interest - The amount paid or charged on money over time. If you borrow money interest will be charged on the loan. If you invest money, interest will be paid (where appropriate to the investment).
Overdraft - This is when a person has a minus figure in their account. It can be authorized (agreed to in advance or retrospect) or unauthorized (where the bank has not agreed to the overdraft either because the account holder represents too great a risk to lend to in this way or because the account holder has not asked for an overdraft facility).
Payee - The person who receives a payment. This often applies to cheques. If you receive a cheque you are the payee and the person or company who wrote the cheque is the payer.
Payer - The person who makes a payment. This often applies to cheques. If you write a cheque you are the payer and the recipient of the cheque is the payee.
Security for Loans - Where large loans are required the lending institution often needs to have a guarantee that the loan will be paid back. This takes the form of a large item of capital outlay (typically a house) which is owned or partly owned and the amount owned is at least equivalent to the loan required.
Internet Banking - Online banking (or Internet banking) allows customers to conduct financial transactions on a secure website operated by the bank.
Credit Card - A credit card is one of the systems of payments named after the small plastic card issued to users of the system. It is a card entitling its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services.
Debit Card – Debit card allows for direct withdrawal of funds from customers bank accounts. The spending limit is determined by the available balance in the account.
Loan - A loan is a type of debt.  In a loan, the borrower initially receives or borrows an amount of money, called the principal, from the lender, and is obligated to pay back or repay an equal amount of money to the lender at a later time. There are different kinds of loan such as the house loan, auto loan etc.
Bank Rate - This is the rate at which central bank (RBI) lends money to other banks or financial institutions.   If the bank rate goes up, long-term interest rates also tend to move up, and vice-versa.
CRR - CRR means Cash Reserve Ratio.  Banks in India are required to hold a certain proportion of their deposits in the form of cash with Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This minimum ratio is stipulated by the RBI and is known as the CRR or Cash Reserve Ratio.  Thus, When a bank’s deposits increase by Rs100, and if the cash reserve ratio is 9%, the banks will have to hold additional Rs 9 with RBI and Bank will be able to use only Rs 91 for investments and lending / credit purpose. Therefore, higher the ratio (i.e. CRR), the lower is the amount that banks will be able to use for lending and investment.  This power of RBI to reduce the lendable amount by increasing the CRR makes it an instrument in the hands of a central bank through which it can control the amount that banks lend.  Thus, it is a tool used by RBI to control liquidity in the banking system.
SLR - SLR stands for Statutory Liquidity Ratio. This term is used by bankers and indicates the minimum percentage of deposits that the bank has to maintain in form of gold, cash or other approved securities.  Thus, we can say that it is ratio of cash and some other approved to liabilities (deposits). It regulates the credit growth in India. 
ATM - An automated teller machine (ATM) is a computerised telecommunications device that provides the clients with access to financial transactions in a public space without the need for a cashier, human clerk or bank teller. On most modern ATMs, the customer is identified by inserting a plastic ATM card with a magnetic stripe or a plastic smart card with a chip, that contains a unique card number and some security information such as an expiration date or CVV. Authentication is provided by the customer entering a personal identification number (PIN)

Banking and Marketing Aptitude : Objective Questions

1. A prospect means

a) any customer who walks into the bank

b) an employee of the bank

c) a customer who is likely to be interested in bank’s product or service

d) a depositor of the bank’

e) a borrower of the bank

2. A lead means

a) a prospect who is more likely to avail of the Bank’s product

b) a political leader

c) a religious leader

d) a bank chairman

e) None of these

3. Innovation means

a) Compensation

b) inspiration

c) additional perquisites

d) implementing new ideas or new methods

e) None of these

4. A Call means

a) calling on friends

b) calling on bank employees

c) calling on prospective customers

d) to make telephone calls

e) calling on relatives

5. The Traditional Marketing style involves

a) Telemarketing

b) Digital Marketing

c) Indirect Marketing

d) Direct Marketing

e) All of these

6. Modern Method of Marketing include

a) Publicity on the net

b) Advertisement on the net

c) Soliciting business through e-mails

d) Tele marketing

e) All of these

7. A true marketing requires

a) Command and other mindset

b) Control Mindset

c) Passive mindset

d) Active mindset

e) None of these

8. Which of the following sentences is true?

a) Marketing is not required in a Buyers’ Market

b) Marketing is not required in a Sellers’s market

c) Marketing is not required due to competition

d) Marketing is not required due to liberalization

e) Marketing is not required due to globalisation

9. For effective marketing the salesmen should have which of these qualities?

a) Creativity

b) Team spirit

c) Motivation

d) Effective communication skills

e) All of these

10. Market information means

a) Knowledge of shops and bazaars

b) Knowledge of shopping malls

c) Knowledge of customer profile and product mix

d) knowledge of various languages

e) None of these

11. Market Research is needed for

a) checking the market area

b) checking the right product to be sold

c) making proper marketing decisions

d) deciding right time to sell

e) All of these

12. Which of the following statement is true

a) Marketing makes the company to go into loss due to higher expenses

b) Marketing is not required in profit making companies

c) Marketing sharpens the minds of the employees

d) Marketing is a time bound seasonal function

e) Marketing is a waste of time

13. Marketing plan helps in

a) better lead generation

b) better systems

c) better results

d) improved balance sheet

e) better customer service

14. If Marketing is done effectively which of the following is not required?

a) Advertisement

b) Publicity

c) Market Research

d) Market Segmentation

e) None of these

15. Motivation means

a) Inspiring employees to perform better

b) Better communication skills

c) Sales Coaching

d) Market Research

e) None of these

16. In a Selling Process in today’s world?

a) Only standard products are sold

b) No customization required

c) the seller need not have product knowledge

d) the seller should aim at customer satisfaction

e) only quantum of sales matters

17. Find the true statement

a) Marketing is a waste of the employees’ time

b) Marketing is not required in India due to its vast population

c) Marketing involves additional work

d) Marketing involves team work

e) Marketing is not required today due to IT advancement

18. A Target market is

a) entire country

b) entire city

c) entire globe

d) that which consists of customers who need the identified product

e) all of these

19. Sales forecasting involves

a) Sales Planning

b) Sales Pricing

c) Distribution Channels

d) Consumer tastes

e) All of these

20. Cross Selling means

a) Identifying customer needs

b) matching the products to customer needs

c) convincing the customers of product benefits

d) responding to questions and objections of customers

e) all of these
ANSWERS

1 (c) 2 (a) 3 (d) 4 ( c) 5 (d) 6 (e) 7 (d) 8 (b)

9 (e) 10 (c) 11 (e) 12 (c) 13 (c) 14 (b) 15 (a) 16 (d)

17 (d) 18 (d) 19 (e) 20  (e)