6 Quick & Simple Techniques to Boost Memory

Sometimes, you feel that you are unable to memorize typical concepts/facts while others are able to memorize and it leads to awkward situation when your teacher asks you some historical event with dates in front of a class, and you are unable to memorize.

Actually,it is really true that every person have equal capacity of memory but the real distinction arises How One develops his own working memory ?. Our brain is divided into two parts left part of the brain is logical and analytical while the right one is imaginative and emotional and the left part of the brain is short-term while the right part of the brain is long-term.So you have to use the mix of both to efficiently utilize your memory.

Today, we will discuss Six research proven  quick and simple techniques one by one that you can use in practice to improve your memory which will be helpful to you in every aspect of your life, especially in examinations.

First one, is  try to study in Multiple Short Learning Sessions rather than in one long session. 

One day,some of the researchers experimented by dividing two groups with different tasks. One group has given the task of learning the 50 pages document at  a stretch of 10 hours of study  while the other group has given the task of reading the same 50 pages document in  repeated multiple sessions of 30 minutes with short intervals after every session.Researchers found the most surprising fact that the second group memorize the information of the lengthy document around 80% but the first group just remembers only around 40% that's really surprising .

So, it is just a myth to study for 10 long hours of non-stop study will be helpful for you before your examination.

It is better you take some regular multiple short intervals between your studies to improve your long term memory and use it efficiently when you go for your examination.

It is basically, a learning technique that maximizes the brain’s ability to make and store memories and it may help overcome cognitive issues seen in fragile X syndrome, an inherited genetic condition that causes intellectual and developmental disabilities and is commonly associated with autism. Symptoms include difficulty learning new skills or information, according to UC Irvine neurobiologists.

Second one, is try to Learn At Specific Times when your brain is more active. Actually,our brain is not keep on active stage at every time.Some of the times brain becomes more active in early morning while some of the time it becomes more active in evening or in late night.

Try to find out the time when your brain is more active stage and try to learn new concepts/facts/information during this time and learn less important/ priority topics during other times.

Third one , use Flash Cards to memorize quickly

When learning new information, or preparing for a test, flash cards can be a great way to review lots of information quickly. They are easy to make, and easy to use because you can take them anywhere.

Keep it simple, cut a sheet of paper into 8 or 10 pieces, or purchase a pack of blank index cards
DO THIS EARLY! Minimum 2-3 days before your quiz or exam

Write the concept or vocabulary word on the front of the card, and its respective explanation on the back. Keep these cards with you at all times whether you are in morning walk,traveling to school,during journey in a bus or train etc.

Keep these cards in a front pocket, handbag or backpack which is easily accessible to you at any time.

Fourth one , is  Spaced Interval Repetition 

At the time of examination,I've always been a crammer i.e., rote learning.
In the short term it may be the most effective way of stuffing a large number of facts into your head. The downside, is that information learned by cramming  is short-lived in the long-term.

In fact, the decline in memory retention over time is exponential! This inevitable decay in our ability to recall memorized information was discovered by a a German psychologist called Hermann Ebbinghaus. The ‘Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve’ is shown below:

So, according to this curve, when we first read any concept or information after immediate recall it retains in our memory about 100% but after 20 minutes only 60% of the concept left in our memory,again after 1 hour only 44% of the concept left in our memory and so on after 1 month concept will completely vanished from our memory.

So,if you want to improve your memory retention or want to stop decaying of information from your memory especially at the time of examination, you have to follow Spaced Interval Repetition Schedule.

First Review -> Immediately

Second Review -> 24 hours

Third Review -> One week

Fourth Review -> 1 month

Fifth Review -> 3 months


In Latin there is a saying "Repetitio est mater studiorum" means Repetition is the Mother of Learning.

Note :- But always remember before blindly repeating the concept first try to recall/review what you have learnt so far, then repeat.  

This means that we have to test ourselves.Psychologists call this  strategy as the outcome of "testing effect" and it was beautifully described by Francois Bacon in his psychological work Novum
Organum centuries ago :

“If you read a piece of text through twenty times, you will not learn it by heart so easily as if you read it ten times while attempting to recite from time to time and consulting the text when your memory fails.”
— Francis Bacon, 1620
Repeating Information at regular interval is so much effective that you cannot imagine.Let us take a real life example,when repeatedly, we have shown advertisements of particular product on Television we remember those product so that when we go to the market or supermarkets we are able to find or clearly distinguish those products from the bunch of products in the market that we have shown in the advertisement this is actually the market strategy of the companies to retain their products image in people's mind.

Fifth one , is Shout It Loud

Some researchers experimented by giving a list of words to a set of people to learn by dividing some words to read silently while some by reading them loud.The result was that the people were able to recall more efficiently all those words that were read loudly than silently.

Actually,when we read silently in our mind we make only visual connection and whenever we read loudly we not only makes visual connection but also makes audio connection.

You can efficiently use this technique by reading important information/concepts loudly so that you will  make an audio connection with it and due to distinction and audio connection as well those important information will retain in your mind with logical sequence.

Last but not the Least one , is Method of Loci

Suppose you have to give an important speech/presentation in front of your class for your final exam. It doesn't matter how many times you have rehearsed the presentation speech, you know you will not be able to memorize every part of it. You don't want to accidentally leave out any necessary details, but you want to impress your audience by not relying on note cards for help. What can you do?

Ancient Greek and Roman orators are  attributed for using the Method of Loci to memorize speeches or extempore.This is the oldest mnemonic strategy where "loci" is the plural of locus, which means location, or place.This method is  based on the presumption that you can best remember places that you are familiar with, so if you can able to relate something you need to remember with a place that you are usually familiar with, then that location will serve as a clue that will help you to remember the things in the logical orders.

HOW IT WORKS ?

Suppose you have been given following list of items for shopping :

shaving cream
peaches
Capsicum
ketchup
ice cream

So, try to visualize what I am just going to say in your mind with pictures. Let's start, first visualize that you are standing just in front door of your house and you are spraying the foam of  "shaving cream" all over the front door  by depressing the nozzle. Also,try to imagine the smell of the shaving cream, as well because it will works best when  you not only just imagine scenario with pictures or thoughts but also have to feel the item as in reality.

Now you open the door, enter the drying room, and imagine a big size peach coming towards you. Now walked into the Bed room, and imagine a eight-foot-tall burger in between burger a capsicum wearing a Devil's hat and giving smile to you. Then you entered the dining room and visualize a bottle of ketchup, dressed in a maid's uniform, setting up the table. Finally, you go to the kitchen and picture a brick of ice cream, melting as it lying  over a hot stove.

You can use this method to remember lists of items, important points in a speeches, names of people at an event or meeting, things you need to do, even a thought you want to keep in mind. This method works well because it changes the way you memorize.As the locations are organized in an order that you know well, one memory flows into the next very easily in your desired ordering.

Hope, guys you like these memory techniques and it will surely improve your memory retention when you will apply these techniques in practice.

Thanks and Keep in touch with me.

For more interesting tips and tricks 

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References

1. https://lifeinthefastlane.com/

2. http://health.howstuffworks.com/

3. Youtube channel Him-eesh Madaan

How to read Newspaper effectively for competitive exams ?

Just after reading the Headline How to read Newspaper effectively for competitive exams ? the next and obvious question will come in our mind which newspaper to follow?

So in this post I will tell you which newspapers to follow, but it greatly depends on which type of competition you are going to face whether it is  UPSC, State Level Public Service Commission, RBI Grade B, SBI PO, IBPS PO  or any other competitive exam.

If you are going to compete in Banking exam then you have to follow :

The Hindu for General news &
Business Line/Economic Times for financial/banking awareness

For UPSC /PSC examinations

The Hindu is enough

But the common problem that we all face when we first start reading newspaper is that we didn't know which part to read which part to leave and initially we start reading with lots of enthusiasm,
but randomly, with no proper direction and no time limit and in the end after continuing 3 to 4 days of practice we start losing the zeal in reading the newspaper and will try to find some other alternatives such as Current Affairs Magazine , online current affair study material etc.

But you should remember there is NO alternative to reading newspaper if General Awareness/Current Affairs is one of the sections in your exam.

It greatly depends which banking exam you are going to face because in RBI Grade B Preliminary examination around 80 questions generally asked in General awareness section which is mix up of Current affairs, Banking awareness and financial awareness and in this section you can easily answer 5 to 10 questions if you are regularly reading newspaper but in IBPS PO, where only 50 questions asked in General awareness section you can easily answer 3 to 5 questions.

The Hindu is but obvious choice if you are going to face any competitive exam.The main reasons are listed below :

1.  Generally it widely covers all India news in detail rather than State news.
     Local or State wise news is of no use in competitive exams because in exams
     measure your all India general awareness knowledge.

2. The Editorial part of the Hindu is very important to read reason behind this is
    Editorial part includes the direct thoughts or statement of very renowned persons
    having respectable position in our economy for example direct statements of
    Supreme Court judge,Union Minister,Chief Economic Adviser etc. that's why
    whether it is Banking exam or UPSC or any other PSC exam its editorial part is
    directly asked in the form of Reading Comprehension.

3. The language of the newspaper is simple and easily understandable if you have
    just started reading the newspaper.

4. Rich vocabularies used so that your knowledge of using good vocabularies will
    increase.One more important point don't try to learn vocabularies blindly ,try to
    use vocabularies in your speaking and in writing.

So I hope now its clear to you why I am telling you to read The Hindu.

Don't try to start with reading MORE THAN ONE  newspaper its ideal to start with only one with full concentration and proper strategy.

Structure of  Newspaper (The Hindu)

Front page : Read all the bold headlines. Don't spend more than 5 minutes.Most of the important articles redirects to inner pages.

City/Regional News : Avoid at all cost.

National News : Avoid Regional party news,comments from any minister, MP etc.
Things to study : Election results with details,Important flagship schemes launched by Prime Minister,Union Minister etc.,Important appointments in Government Bodies/company etc.,India and other country agreements,military,naval and airforce excercises,news of Dams,Power plants,Launch of any Missile,satellites etc.

Editorial : Just makes notes in your own language in the form of summary (Important for descriptive section of exam and reading comprehension)

International : Mostly deals with deaths, political unrest,protest largely useless very few news worth reading like any earthquake or cyclone affecting country or place,important summits like G4,G7,G20, BRICS, ASEAN etc.,

Appointments and impeachment of President/Prime Minister of any country etc.

Science and Technology : Avoid it fully 

Business/Economy : Very Very important section. read all articles from government sources like Ministry of Finance, Human Resource Development relating to SEBI,RBI,IRDA, Inflation etc.,

GDP Projections from Government sources like CSO,Ministry of Finance,RBI or World Bank, IMF

Important reports released by World Bank like ease of doing business rankings etc.

Things to avoid : Interviews, profit and loss, Quarterly reports,Salaries of CEOs,Fluctuation in shares, Rupee,Dollar,Gold etc.

Sports : Do not need to track day to day news from this section.Read only when any important international tournament concludes e.g, Olympics,cricket World Cup, Lawn tennis etc.

If any important imternational or national player announces his retirement for e.g., M.S.Dhoni announces retirement from test cricket etc.

Ranking announced in international sports.

Lifestyle (Last page) : Avoid it completely

News Paper Reading Advantages 

1. Awareness of Current Affairs/events.
2. Improvement in Static GK (provides background of any event)
3. Improvement of verbal ability
4. Improvement in Cloze test (English) because you will easily learn the use of prepositions at
    specific points by default.
5. Grammar/ Sentence Improvement
6. For Group Discussion/ Personal Interview very important

Hope after reading this post you get some basic structure and overview of how to start reading news paper in my next post I will try to cover the topic of general awareness section which will be useful for your SBI PO 2017 Mains examination.

Functions of Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

1. Issuance of Currency : Under sec 22 of RBI Act,1934, RBI has the sole agency/authority in India to issue currency notes (called Bank Notes) under signatures of Governor of RBI, except One rupee notes which are issued by the Ministry of Finance and it bears the signatures of Finance Secretary.

RBI has a separate issue department which is responsible for issue of currency notes. Originally, the assets of the Issue Department were to consist of not less than two-fifths of gold coin, gold bullion or sterling securities provided the amount of gold was not less than Rs. 40 crores in value. The remaining three-fifths of the assets might be held in rupee coins, Government of India rupee securities, eligible bills of exchange and promissory notes payable in India. Since 1957, the Reserve Bank of India is required to maintain gold and foreign exchange reserves of Rs. 200 crores, of which at least Rs. 115 crores should be in gold. The system as it exists today is known as the Minimum Reserve System.

Coins are minted by Govt. of India at following locations :

1. Mumbai

2. Kolkata,

3. Hyderabad,

4. NOIDA 

Currency notes press of Govt of India are at Currency note press (Nashik) and Bank Note press (Dewas).

Currency notes press of RBI are at Mysore (Karnataka) and Salboni (West Bengal).

2. Banker to Government  : Under sec 20 (for Central govt) and sec 21-A (for state govt) of RBI Act 1934, RBI transacts govt business and manages public debt. Whenever there is a temporary mismatches between receipts and expenditure of State and Central government RBI provides the necessary cash flow this phenomenon is known as WAYS AND MEANS ADVANCES. A state Government can withdraw an overdraft for maximum of 14 days consecutively whereas Central Government can withdraw an overdraft for maximum of 10 days consecutively.Interest rate is linked to Repo rate.

RBI represents the Government of India as the member of the IMF and the World Bank.

3. Banker to other Banks : The RBI being an apex monitory institution has obligatory powers to guide, help and direct other commercial banks in the country. The RBI can control the volumes of banks reserves and allow other banks to create credit in that proportion. Every commercial bank has to maintain a part of their reserves (as Cash Reserve Ratio) with RBI.

4. Controller and Superviser of Banks : The RBI has been assigned the role of controlling and supervising the bank system in India. The RBI is responsible for controlling the overall operations of all banks in India. These banks may be:
Public sector banks
Private sector banks
Foreign banks
Co-operative banks, or
Regional rural banks

The supervisory role of RBI such as Issue of Bank Licence, KYC Norms, Corporate Governance, Audit and inspection etc.

5. Formulator of Monetary Policy : The RBI formulates monetary policy twice a year. It reviews the policy every quarter as well. The main objectives of

monitoring monetary policy are:

Inflation control

Control on bank credit

Interest rate control

The tools used for implementation of the objectives of monetary policy are:
Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR),

Open market operations (It is the activity of buying and selling of government securities in open market to control the supply of money in banking system. When there is excess supply of money, central bank sale government securities thereby sucking out excess liquidity. Similarly, when liquidity is tight, RBI will buy government securities and thereby injecting money supply.)
Different Rates such as repo rate, reverse repo rate, and bank rate.

6. Lender of Last Resort : The commercial banks approach the Reserve Bank in times of emergency to tide over financial difficulties, and the Reserve bank comes to their rescue though it might charge a higher rate of interest.

7. Custodian of Foreign Exchange Reserve : The Reserve Bank is the custodian of India's foreign exchange reserves. It maintains and stabilises the external value of the rupee, administers exchange controls and other restrictions imposed by the government, and manages the foreign exchange reserves. The Reserve Bank fixes the selling and buying rates of foreign currencies. All Indian remittances to foreign countries and foreign remittances to India are made through the Reserve Bank.

8. Regulator and Supervisor of Payment and Settlement system : Payment and settlement systems play an important role in improving overall economic efficiency. The Payment and Settlement Systems Act of 2007 (PSS Act) gives the Reserve Bank oversight authority, including regulation and supervision, for the payment and settlement systems in the country. In this role, we focus on the development and functioning of safe, secure and efficient payment and settlement mechanisms. Two payment systems National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) and Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) allow individuals, companies and firms to transfer funds from one bank to another. These facilities can only be used for transferring money within the country.

9. Developmental Role : This is one of the most critical role RBI plays in building country's financial structure. Key tools in this effort include Priority sector lending such as Agriculture, micro and small enterprise (MSE), housing and education. RBI work towards strengthening and supporting small local banks and encourage banks to open branches in rural areas to include large section of society in banking net.

History of Banking in India

Beginning of Banking in India

The phase leading up to independence laid the foundations of the Indian banking system. The beginning of commercial banking of the joint stock variety that prevailed elsewhere in the world could be traced back to the early 18th century.

The story of banking starts from Bank of Hindustan established in 1770 and it was first bank at Calcutta under European management. It was liquidated in 1832 The General Bank of Bengal and Bihar, which came into existence in 1773, after a proposal by Governor (later Governor General) Warren Hastings, proved to be a short lived experiment.

In 1786 General Bank of India was set up. Trade was concentrated in Calcutta after the growth of East India Company’s trading and administration. With this grew the requirement for modern banking services, uniform currency to finance foreign trade and remittances by British army personnel and civil servants.

The first ‘Presidency bank’ was the Bank of Bengal established in Calcutta on June 2, 1806 with a capital of Rs.50 lakh. The Government subscribed to 20 per cent of its share capital and shared the privilege of appointing directors with voting rights. The bank had the task of discounting the Treasury Bills to provide accommodation to the Government. The bank was given powers to issue notes in 1823.

The Bank of Bombay was the second Presidency bank set up in 1840 with a capital of Rs.52 lakh, and the Bank of Madras the third Presidency bank established in July 1843 with a capital of Rs.30 lakh. They were known as Presidency banks as they were set up in the three Presidencies that were the units of administrative jurisdiction in the country for the East India Company. The Presidency banks were governed by Royal Charters. The Presidency banks issued currency notes until the enactment of the Paper Currency Act, 1861, when this right to issue currency notes by the Presidency banks was abolished and that function was entrusted to the Government.

Next came Allahabad Bank which was established in 1865 and working even today. The oldest Public Sector Bank in India having branches all over India and serving the customers for the last 150 years is Allahabad Bank. Allahabad bank is also known as one of India’s Oldest Joint Stock Bank. However, the Oldest Joint Stock bank of India was Bank of Upper India established in 1863 and failed in 1913.The first Bank of India with Limited Liability to be managed by Indian Board was Oudh Commercial Bank. It was established in 1881 at Faizabad. This bank failed in 1958.

The first bank purely managed by Indians was Punjab National Bank, established in Lahore in 1895. The Punjab national Bank has not only survived till date but also is one of the largest banks in India.The Bank of India was set up in 1906 in Mumbai.The Swadeshi Movement of 1906 provided a great impetus to joint stock banks of Indian ownership and many more Indian commercial banks such as Central Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Indian Bank, and Bank of Mysore were established between 1906 and 1913. By the end of December 1913, the total number of reporting commercial banks in the country reached 56 comprising 3 Presidency banks.

In 1921,the three Presidency Banks i.e., Bank of Bengal,Bank of Bombay and Bank of Madras were merged with each other and Imperial Bank of India got birth. Imperial Bank of India was later renamed in 1955 as the State Bank of India.





As so many banks existed that time so the need of one monitoring authority for the Banks arises i.e. central Bank of the country .So there came the establishment of Reserve Bank of India which is currently central bank of our country. The Reserve Bank of India was set up on the basis of the recommendations of the Hilton Young Commission. The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 provides the statutory basis of the functioning of the Bank, which commenced operations on April 1, 1935.

The Reserve Bank was constituted to Regulate the issue of banknotes Maintain reserves with a view to securing monetary stability and To operate the credit and currency system of the country to its advantage.

The Bank began its operations by taking over from the Government the functions so far being performed by the Controller of Currency and from the Imperial Bank of India, the management of Government accounts and public debt. The existing currency offices at Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Rangoon, Karachi, Lahore and Cawnpore (Kanpur) became branches of the Issue Department. Offices of the Banking Department were established in Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Delhi and Rangoon.

Burma (Myanmar) seceded from the Indian Union in 1937 but the Reserve Bank continued to act as the Central Bank for Burma till Japanese Occupation of Burma and later upto April, 1947. After the partition of India, the Reserve Bank served as the central bank of Pakistan upto June 1948 when the State Bank of Pakistan commenced operations. The Bank, which was originally set up as a shareholder's bank, was nationalised in 1949.

An interesting feature of the Reserve Bank of India was that at its very inception, the Bank was seen as playing a special role in the context of development, especially Agriculture. When India commenced its plan endeavours, the development role of the Bank came into focus, especially in the sixties when the Reserve Bank, in many ways, pioneered the concept and practise of using finance to catalyse development. The Bank was also instrumental in institutional development and helped set up insitutions like the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation of India, the Unit Trust of India, the Industrial Development Bank of India, the National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Discount and Finance House of India etc. to build the financial infrastructure of the country.

With liberalisation, the Bank's focus has shifted back to core central banking functions like Monetary Policy, Bank Supervision and Regulation, and Overseeing the Payments System and onto developing the financial markets.

NATIONALISATION OF BANKS 

Indian Banking history can be traced to 19th century. During the colonial era many Indian banks were founded either by the Presley States or by wealthy individuals.The primary aim of most of the banks was to cater financial needs of trade and industry in that locality. During this period the banking services became the privilege of big business firms and wealthy individuals. Masses were denied easy credit and banking services. Agriculture and rural small scale industries did not have access to credit facilities and banking services. They depended on village money lenders and other private financiers to fund their activities. These local financial prodders exploited the rural population by charging enormous interest rates and harsh repayment conditions.

Nationalization of banks in India was done in two phases. The first phase of nationalization started in 1955 when the erstwhile Imperial Bank of India became State Bank of India with an Act of parliament. During 1959, seven subsidiaries were nationalized and associated with State Bank of India one by one.The list of seven subsidiaries of SBI were as follows :

1.State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur

2. State Bank of Hyderabad

3. State Bank of Mysore

4. State Bank of Patiala

5. State Bank of Travancore

6. State Bank of Indore – It was merged with SBI in the year 2010

7. State Bank of Saurashtra – – It was merged with SBI in the year 2008

The second phase of Nationalization of banks in India was introduced by then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who expressed the intention of the Government of India in the annual conference of the All India Congress Meeting in a paper entitled "Stray thoughts on Bank Nationalisation." 

The meeting received the paper with enthusiasm.Thereafter, her move was swift and sudden. The Government of India issued an ordinance ('Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Ordinance, 1969') and nationalised the 14 largest commercial banks with effect from the midnight of 19 July 1969. These banks contained 85 percent of bank deposits in the country. Jayaprakash Narayan, a national leader of India, described the step as a "masterstroke of political sagacity." Within two weeks of the issue of the ordinance, the Parliament passed the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertaking) Bill, and it received the presidential approval on 9 August 1969. the list of 14 commercial Banks that were nationalised are as follows :

1. Allahabad Bank
2. Bank of Baroda
3. Bank of India
4. Bank of Maharashtra
5. Canara Bank
6. Central Bank of India
7. Dena Bank
8. Indian Bank
9. Indian Overseas Bank
10. Punjab National Bank
11. Syndicate Bank
12. UCO Bank
13. Union Bank of India
14. United Bank of India

In 1980, 6 more commercial banks were nationalized and became public sector banks.These are as follows :

1. Andhra Bank
2. Corporation Bank
3. New Bank of India
4. Oriental Bank of Commerce
5. Punjab & Sindh Bank
6. Vijaya Bank

Later on, in the year 1993, the government merged New Bank of India with Punjab National Bank .It was the only merger between nationalised banks and resulted in the reduction of the number of nationalised banks from 20 to 19. After this, until the 1990s, the nationalised banks grew at a pace of around 4%, closer to the average growth rate of the Indian economy.

Objectives behind Bank Nationalisation in India
The nationalisation of commercial banks took place with an aim to achieve following major objectives.

Social Welfare : It was the need of the hour to direct the funds for the needy and required sectors of the indian economy. Sector such as agriculture, small and village industries were in need of funds for their expansion and further economic development.

Controlling Private Monopolies : Prior to nationalisation many banks were controlled by private business houses and corporate families. It was necessary to check these monopolies in order to ensure a smooth supply of credit to socially desirable sections.

Expansion of Banking : In a large country like India the numbers of banks existing those days were certainly inadequate. It was necessary to spread banking across the country. It could be done through expanding banking network (by opening new bank branches) in the un-banked areas.

Reducing Regional Imbalance : In a country like India where we have a urban-rural divide; it was necessary for banks to go in the rural areas where the banking facilities were not available. In order to reduce this regional imbalance nationalisation was justified.

Priority Sector Lending : In India, the agriculture sector and its allied activities were the largest contributor to the national income. Thus these were labeled as the priority sectors. But unfortunately they were deprived of their due share in the credit. Nationalisation was urgently needed for catering funds to them.

Developing Banking Habits : In India more than 70% population used to stay in rural areas. It was necessary to develop the banking habit among such a large population.


EMERGENCE OF REGIONAL RURAL BANKS

The nationalisation of the banks in 1969 boosted the confidence of the public in the Banking system of the country. However, in the early 1970s, there was a feeling that even after nationalisation, there were cultural issues which made it difficult for commercial banks, even under government ownership, to lend to farmers. This issue was taken up by the government and it set up Narasimham Working Group in 1975. On the basis of this committee’s recommendations, a Regional Rural Banks Ordinance was promulgated in September 1975, which was replaced by the Regional Rural Banks Act 1976.
Regional Rural Banks popularly known as 'Gramin Bank' came into existence on Gandhi Jayanti in 1975 with the formation of first Regional Rural Bank named as Prathama Grameen Bank. The rural banks had the legislative backing of the Regional Rural Banks Act 1976 . This act allowed the government to set up banks from time to time wherever it considered necessary. The RRBs were owned by three entities with their respective shares as follows:

Central Government → 50%

State government → 15%

Sponsor bank → 35%

NABARD (National bank for Agricultura and Rural Development) is the regulatory authority of the Regional Rural Banks.

The total number of RRBs functioning in the country as on 31st March 2015 is 56.

How To Crack SBI PO 2017 in 30 days ?

We saw many variations in the patterns and level of  Banking exams especially Reasoning section in SBI PO 2016  and now a days prediction of cutoff marks for SBI PO is also very difficult.
So, in this section we will discuss about the strategy you should follow for the preparation of SBI PO 2017 Pre and Mains examination.

                                      SBI PO Notification 2017 out check now


As we all know SBI is the biggest commercial Bank in India. So It offers highest entry level package

for Probationary officers that would be minimum of Rs. 7.77 Lacs per annum and maximum of Rs. 12.93 Lacs per annum depending on place of posting and other factors.This includes Leased rental accommodation, H.R.A, Conveyance allowance etc.

That is the main reason that in their exam maximum number of students used to appear that is around 20-25 Lacs. So, now you can imagine what level of competition you are going to face.

The State Bank Of India has also changed its pattern of exam from last year. Earlier the exam was conducted in Two Phases I and II but from last year there has been an addition and now the exam of SBI PO is conducted in Three Phases i.e. Phase I, Phase II and Phase III.

Phase I is the Preliminary Examination, Phase II is the Main Examination and Phase III is the Group Discussion & Interview. Below are the details given for each Phase.

Phase I – Preliminary Examination
This is the first step of the SBI PO exam. It is an online objective test of 100 marks. It’s duration is 60 minutes.

Name of Test	No. Of Questions	Marks
English Language	30	30
Quantitative Aptitude	35	35
Reasoning Ability	35	35
Total	100	100

Candidates who will qualify in this Test will be shortlisted for the Mains Examination or Phase II.

Phase II – Main Examination

After qualifying the Phase I, candidates appear for the Main Examination. It is an online objective test for 200 marks and descriptive test for 50 marks.

Objective Test

Name of test	Questions	Marks	Duration
Reasoning and computer aptitude	45	60	60 minutes
Data analysis and interpretation	35	60	45 minutes
General / economy / banking awareness	40	40	35 minutes
English language	35	40	40 minutes
Total	155	200	3 hours

Descriptive Test
The duration is of 30 minutes and is a test of English Language (Letter Writing and Essay) of 50 marks.

Phase III – Group Discussion & Interview
Those candidates who will qualify the Prelims and Main will be called for a GD round and then a personal interview. The final selection will take place keeping in mind the result of all the three phases.

Things you need to look into while preparing every section of SBI PO Exam

Quantitative Aptitude:

Number series : Practice makes a man perfect.So Practice Number Series and try to catch their patterns and try to solve as many Number series as possible from different mock tests, model papers etc.Because around 3 -5 questions generally asked from Number series.

Simplification/Approximation : Around 5 questions generally asked.

Data Interpretations : Generally 15 questions asked means three sets of DI of 5 questions.

Chapters : Important Chapters like Profit and loss, Compound & Simple interest,Time and Work, Time and Distance ,Percentages etc.(Try to solve questions from RS Agarwal)

Reasoning:

Inequality

Syllogism

Coding decoding

Relationship

Puzzles : Linear North south sitting arrangement, Circular sitting facing center with or without parameters,Floor based Puzzles and Box based puzzles.Most of the questions asked from puzzles around 15-20 questions so be careful.You can learn concepts especially in puzzles from a popular Youtube channel Study Smart.

English:

Cloze test : around 5 - 10 questions in this section you should have good knowledge of preposition.

Spot the errors : Good Grammatical knowledge required.

Sentence Improvement : Good Grammatical knowledge required.

Reading comprehension : You should read some editorials on regular basis to excel in this section. It also checks your verbal ability but not very high level in form of Synonyms and antonyms.

Sentence rearrangement : Sentence framing you should know about from complex to simple sentence.

Banking/General awarenessThis section asked in Mains examination. For this section the base of your preparation should be reading newspaper especially The Hindu.

Monthly current affairs magazines and for Banking awareness i am giving the links of some books below

Reference Books You should Follow 

Quantitaive Aptitude

Magical Book on Quicker Maths M Tyra           --             Buy from Amazon

Quantitative Aptitude For Competitive              --             Buy from Amazon

Examinations by R. S. Aggarwal (New Edition)

English 

Objective General English by                               --           Buy from Amazon

 R. S. Aggarwal, Vikas Aggarwal (New Edition)

Reasoning

Bank PO Reasoning by Kiran Prakashan       --                Buy from Amazon

For Complete Mock Test 

The New SBI Bank PO Guide    ---                               Buy from Amazon

by Disha Publications

Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF)

Liquidity adjustment facility is a monetary policy tool used by RBI , which allows banks to borrow money through repurchase agreement with RBI. LAF is used to aid banks in adjusting the day to day mismatches in liquidity.
Liquidity adjustment facilities are used to aid banks in resolving any short term cash shortages during periods of economic instability or from any other form of stress caused by forces beyond their control.



In 1998, Narsimham Committee on Banking Sector Reforms, recommends LAF.


In 1999, RBI introduces interim LAF


In 2000, RBI implemented full fledged LAF.


On recommendations of an RBI's Internal Group RBI has revised the LAF scheme on March 25,2004. further revision has been carried with effect from Oct 29,2004.

Two tools used under LAF

1. Repo Rate

2. Reverse Repo Rate

1. Repo Rate: Repo means Repurchase Offer or Sale & Repurchase Agreement.It is a collaterised lending.Under this, Bank borrows money from RBI to meet their short term needs by selling securities to RBI with an agreement to repurchase the same in future.The rate charged by RBI for this transaction is called Repo Rate. It injects liquidity in the market.

   

2. Reverse Repo Rate : Reverse repo is the exact opposite of repo. In a reverse repo transaction, banks purchase government securities form RBI and lend money to the banking regulator, thus earning interest. Reverse repo rate is the rate at which RBI borrows money from banks. Banks are always happy to lend money to RBI since their money is in safe hands with a good interest.
It absorbs liquidity from the market.



Difference between Repo and Reverse Repo is called Corridor and it is generally 100 basis points or 1 percent.

Why Repo Rate is always kept higher than Reverse Repo ?

Like any other bank, RBI also has to keep some spread or gap or profit margin.
RBI cannot give more interest on deposit and charge lesser interest on loans
Thus, Repo rate is always higher than the Reverse repo rate.

Whenever, RBI requires tight monetary policy or contracts money supply in the economy it increase the Repo rate.

Whenever, RBI requires eased monetary policy or expands money supply in the economy, it decreases Repo rate.

MCQs for Banking Awareness - Set 3

1. What is the full form of CVV?
A. Credit Verification Value
B. Currency Verification Variable
C. Customer Verification Value
D. Card Verification Value
E. None of these

2. The selling of life assurance and other insurance products and services by banking institution is known as ____.
A. Insurance cover
B. Bancassurance
C. Protection cover
D.Assurance cover
E. None of these

3. In what denominations Commercial Paper (CP) can be issued?
A. Rs. 1 lakh
B. Rs. 2 lakh
C. Rs. 5 lakh
D. Rs. 10 lakh
E. None of these

4. What is the loan limit for education under priority sector for studies abroad?
A. Rs. 30 lakh
B. Rs. 25 lakh
C. Rs. 20 lakh
D. Rs. 15 lakh
E. Rs. 10 lakh

5. Foreign exchange Reserves in India are kept in the custody of ___.
A. Govt. of India
B. Finance Ministry
C. Reserve Bank of India
D. Overseas Ministry
E. SEBI

6.RBI declared which of the following as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D- SIBs)?
A. SBI & HDFC
B. SBI & ICICI
C. ICICI & HDFC
D. SBI & BOB
E. SBI & PNB

7.A receipt listed in India and traded in rupees declaring ownership of shares of a foreign company:
A. Indian Depository Receipt (IDR)
B. Commercial Paper
C. Promissory Note
D. Indian Depository Revenue
E. None of these

8. What is the time limit for an asset or loan to be declared as Non-Performing Asset?
A. 30 days
B. 60 days
C. 90 days
D. 120 days
E. 150 days

9. Which among the following statements are correct/s in the context with Payment Banks?
A. The minimum paid-up capital requirement for payments banks is Rs. 100 crore
B. Payment banks will offer both deposits as well as loan products.
C. Payments banks will have to invest in government securities with a maturity of up to 1 year
D. Payments banks can open small savings accounts and accept deposits of up to Rs.1 lakh per individual customer.
(1) A, C, D (2) B, C, D
(3) A, B, C (4) A, B, D
(5) All are true

10. In MCLR, M stands for
 A. Marginal
B. Minimum
C. Maximum
D. Means
E. None


ANSWERS WITH EXPLANATION

1.(D) Full form of CVV is - "Card Verification Value" on your credit card or debit card is a 3 digit number on VISA, MasterCard etc.

2. (B) The selling of life assurance and other insurance products and services by banking institution is known as Bancassurance.

3.(C) Commercial Paper (CP) can be issued in denominations of Rs.5 lakh or multiples thereof. Commercial Paper (CP) is an unsecured money market instrument issued in the form of a promissory note.

4. (C) Loans to individuals for educational purposes including vocational courses upto Rs.10 lakh for studies in India and Rs. 20 lakh for studies abroad are included under priority sector.

5.(C) Foreign exchange Reserves in India are kept in the custody of Reserve Bank of India.

6.(B) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently, designated State Bank of India (SBI) and ICICI Bank Ltd, the country’s two largest lenders, as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs). The banks have been named Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs), with SBI falling in bucket three while ICICI Bank is in bucket one.

7.(A) A receipt listed in India and traded in rupees declaring ownership of shares of a foreign company is known as Indian Depository Receipt (IDR)

8.(C) A Non-performing asset (NPA) is defined as a credit facility in respect of which the interest and/or installment of Bond finance principal has remained ‘past due’ for a specified period of time. Once the borrower has failed to make interest or principle payments for 90 days the loan is considered to be a non-performing asset

9.(1) A, C, D The main objective of payment banks is to increase financial inclusion in the country via a primary focus on domestic payments services by providing small savings accounts. Note: Payments banks will be used only for transaction and deposits purposes. Unlike Small banks, payments banks cannot offer loan products to the customers.

10. (A) The marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) 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

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.

OPEN MARKET OPERATION (OMO)

Open Market Operation (OMO ) is conducted by Reserve Bank of India by way of sale or purchase of Government Securities/Bonds  to increase or decrease money supply in the economy.

When the RBI feels there is excess liquidity (money supply) in the market and is interested in controlling inflation,  it sells government securities to commercial banks .Banks  pay the RBI in return of the Govt. Securities and this reduces excess reserves which in turn reduces the banks' ability to lend money, thereby decreasing money supply(sucking out the rupee liquidity) and increasing interest rates.Similarly, when the liquidity conditions are tight (means money supply is low), the RBI will purchase Government securities from the commercial banks, higher excess reserves means commercial banks can lend more money leading to increase in money supply and decrease in interest rates. 

Important Banking Awareness MCQs with Explanation

                    In the Below Video List of Important Banking Awareness Questions
                    with detailed explanations have been given.

                   check this out.

MCQS for Banking Awareness -SET 2

1. In Deposits Account “KYC” (Know Your Customer) has been implemented in 2002 as per directive of –
A. IBA
B. RBI
C. Ministry of Finance
D.SEBI
E. IRDAA

2. Which of the following indexes used as the key measure of inflation in India?
A. Wholesale Price Index
B. Consumer Price Index
C. Sensex and Nifty
D. Interest rate offered by banks on deposits
E. None of these

3. With which of the following is SARFAESI Act 2002 related?
A. Recovery of bad loans
B. Regulation of foreign exchange
C. Fixation of interest rates
D. Acquisition of small banks
E. None of these

4. What is the full form of the term NDTL, as used in banking environment?
A Net Demand and Term Liability
B Net Demand and Time Liability
C Net Demand and Term Liquidity
D Net Demand and Time Liquidity
E None of the above

5. Which among the following committee constituted on Payment Banks license?
(A) Dr. Nachiket Mor
(B) R. Gandhi
(C) Anand Sinha
(D) Deepak Mohanty
(E) None of these

6. As per the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, any person can file a complaint before the Banking Ombudsman, if the satisfied reply is not received from the bank within a period of ____.
A. one month
B. three months
C. two months
D. six months
E. None

7. cheque is considered a valid cheque if the date entered on the cheque is within ______of the actual date on which it is presented.
A. 6 months
B. 3 months
C. 9 months
D. 1 months
E. None of these

8. Under Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), the accidental insurance cover of _____will be provided to all the beneficiaries.
A. Rs.1.00 lac
B. Rs.2.00 lac
C. Rs.3.00 lac
 D. Rs.30,000
E. Rs.50,000

9. Treasury bills or T-bills, which are money market instruments, are short term debt instruments issued by ____.
A. Reserve Bank of India
B. Individual Banks
C. Government of India
D. IRDA
E. Corporate & Financial Institutions

10. is the rate at which banks borrow funds overnight from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) against approved government securities.
A. CRR
B. SLR
C. Call Money
D. MSF
E. Repo Rate

ANSWERS WITH EXPLANATION 

1.(B) KYC means “Know Your Customer”. It is a process by which banks obtain information about the identity and address of the customers. KYC has been implemented in 2002 as per directive of Reserve Bank of India.

2.(B) The Central Bank of India (RBI) had adopted the new Consumer Price Index (CPI) as the key measure of inflation. Earlier, RBI had given more weightage to Wholesale Price Index (WPI) than CPI as the key measure of inflation for all policy purposes.

3.(A) The Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (SARFAESI) empowers Banks / Financial Institutions to recover their non-performing assets (bad loans) without the intervention of the Court.

4.(B) NDTL full form is - Net Demand and Time Liability
It is a sum of demand and time liabilities (deposits) of banks with public and other banks wherein assets with other banks is subtracted to get net liability of other banks. Deposits of banks are its liability and consist of demand and time deposits of public and other banks.

5. (A)Payment Banks applicant applications are analyzed and evaluated by an External Advisory Committee (EAC). The EAC Committee for Payment Banks is chaired by Dr. Nachiket Mor, Director, Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India.

6. (A) One can file a complaint before the Banking Ombudsman if the reply is not received from the bank within a period of one month after the bank concerned has received one s representation, or the bank rejects the complaint, or if the complainant is not satisfied with the reply given by the bank.

7. (B) A cheque is considered a valid cheque if the date entered on the cheque is within 3 months of the actual date on which it is presented. For example, a cheque with the date of 10th Jan 2015 will be valid if it is presented to the bank on or before 10th April 2015.

8. (A) Under Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), the accidental insurance cover of Rs. 1 lakh will be provided to all the beneficiaries. Life insurance cover of Rs.30,000.

9. (C) Treasury bills or T-bills, which are money market instruments, issued by the Government of India and are presently issued in three tenors, namely, 91 day, 182 day and 364 day. Treasury bills are zero coupon securities and pay no interest.

10. (D) Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) is a new scheme announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its Monetary Policy (2011-12) and refers to the penal rate at which banks can borrow money from the central bank over and above what is available to them through the LAF window.

MCQs for Banking Awareness - SET 1

1. Union Government has launched a seven pronged plan called Indradhanush Mission to revamp
    functioning of ____.
   A. Primary Schools in Rural areas
  B. To boost Make in India initiative
 C. Public Sector Banks (PSBs)
 D. Handlooms sector in the country
 E. Tourism sector in the country

2. In CRAR, A stands for:
  A. Application
  B. Accounts
 C. Assets
 D. Annual
 E. Alternate

3. The Public Provident Fund is savings-cum-tax-saving instrument in India, introduced by the    National Savings Institute of the Ministry of Finance in 1968. What is the minimum amount to be invested in PPF account?

A. Rs. 100
B. Rs. 500
C. Rs. 1000
 D. Rs. 200
E. None of these

4. The transitional period for full implementation of Basel III Capital Regulations in India is extended upto?
A March 1, 2018
B March 31, 2019
C April 1, 2018
D April 30, 2018
E None of these

5. A Reserve Bank of India (RBI) committee has recommended conversion of Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) with business size of 20,000 crore rupees or more into regular banks. This recommendation was given by the High Powered Committee on UCBs headed by ___.
A. Deepak Mohanty
B. Urjit Patel
C. MB Shah
D. R Gandhi
E. None of these

6. The Reserve Bank of India advised banks to make the Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures mandatory while opening and operating the accounts. RBI has issued the KYC guidelines under Section 35 (A) of the ____.
A. Banking Regulation Act, 1949
B. RBI Act, 1934
C. Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881
D. Banking Regulation Act, 1935
E. Both A & B

7. India has become the second largest player in the China-led Asian infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB). What is India’s stake in the bank’s shares in AIIB?
A. 7.5%
B. 8.52%
C. 20.06%
D. 30.34%
E. 5.2%

8. A savings as well as current account should be treated as inoperative / dormant if there are no transactions in the account for over a period of _____ years.
A. One
B. Two
C. Three
D. Four
E. Five

9. In CDR, “R” stands for ____.
A. Ratio
B. Receipt
C. Regulation
D. Restructuring
E. Reserve

10. What is the maximum deposit amount insured by the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC)?
A. Rs. 10 lakh
B.Rs. 5 lakh
C.Rs. 1 lakh
D.Rs. 50,000
E. None

ANSWERS WITH EXPLANATION

1. C  
Union Government has launched a seven pronged plan called Indradhanush Mission to revamp functioning of public sector banks (PSBs). It was launched by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi.
The seven shades of Indradhanush mission include (i) appointments, (ii) Bank Board Bureau (BBB), (iii) capitalisation (iv) de-stressing PSBs, (v) empowerment, (vi) framework of accountability and (vii) governance reforms.

2. C
Assets (Capital to Risk Weighted Assets Ratio)
CRAR is the acronym for capital to risk weighted assets ratio, a standard metric to measure balance sheet strength of banks.

3. B
The minimum investment of Rs. 500 and the maximum amount is Rs. 1.5 lakh per annum.

4. (B)
The transitional period for full implementation of Basel III Capital Regulations in India is extended upto March 31, 2019, instead of as on March 31, 2018.

5. (D) The High Powered Committee on UCBs headed by RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi.

6. (A) RBI has issued the KYC guidelines under Section 35 (A) of the Banking Regulation Act,    1949 and contravention of the same will attract the penalties under the relevant provisions of the act.

7. (B) Bank share - China has received a 30.34 percent stake in the bank’s shares; India and Russia have 8.52 and 7.5 percent respectively. Voting share - India has become the second largest player in the China-led Asian infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB), with a 7.5 percent voting share, while China and Russia gained 20.06 percent and 5.2% respectively.

8. (B) Dormant means inactive and inoperative means which is not being operated i.e. no transactions have been undertaken recently. In terms of RBI guidelines "A savings as well as current account should be treated as inoperative / dormant if there are no transactions in the account for over a period of two years".

9. (D) Corporate Debt Restructuring (“CDR”) mechanism is a voluntary non statutory mechanism under which financial institutions and banks come together to restructure the debt of companies facing financial difficulties due to internal or external factors, in order to provide timely support to such companies.

10. (C) Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation ( DICGC) is a subsidiary of Reserve Bank of India. DICGC insures all bank deposits, such as saving, fixed, current, recurring deposits for up to the limit of Rs. 100,000 of each deposits in a bank.