QUIZ – 2020: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 31 March 2020

Solution: b)

The Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allows resident individuals to remit a certain amount of money during a financial year to another country for investment and expenditure.

According to the prevailing regulations, resident individuals may remit up to $250,000 per financial year. This money can be used to pay expenses related to travelling (private or for business), medical treatment, studying, gifts and donations, maintenance of close relatives and so on.

Apart from this, the remitted amount can also be invested in shares, debt instruments, and be used to buy immovable properties in overseas market. Individuals can also open, maintain and hold foreign currency accounts with banks outside India for carrying out transactions permitted under the scheme.

However, LRS restricts buying and selling of foreign exchange abroad, or purchase of lottery tickets or sweep stakes, proscribed magazines and so on, or any items that are restricted under Schedule II of Foreign Exchange Management (Current Account Transactions) Rules, 2000.

You also can’t make remittances directly or indirectly to countries identified by the Financial Action Task Force as “non co-operative countries and territories”.

Source

Solution: d)

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released the guidelines on co-orgination of loans by banks and non-deposit taking non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) in the priority sector. The move is aimed at leveraging the reach of NBFCs to help banks meet their priority sector lending targets, leveraging the reach of NBFCs.

The co-origination arrangement should entail “joint contribution of credit by both lenders”, the RBI said. It should also involve “sharing of risks and rewards between banks and NBFCs”, according to the central bank.

Priority sector lending includes loans to sectors such as agriculture, micro enterprises, social infrastructure, education and renewable energy.

Under the new guidelines, NBFCs will take minimum 20% of the credit risk by way of direct exposure, with the balance being taken by banks. RBI says the NBFC will have to give an undertaking to the bank that its contribution towards the loan amount is not funded out of borrowing from the co-originating bank or any other group company of the partner bank.

Both the lenders must have the flexibility to price their part of the loan exposure depending on the risk appetite, according to the guidelines. A single blended interest rate will be offered to the borrower in case of fixed rate loans, while a weighted average of the benchmark interest rates in proportion to the respective loan contribution will be offered in the case of floating rates loans.

The bank and NBFC shall open an escrow type common account for pooling of respective loans contributions for disbursement and loan repayments from borrowers, the guidelines state.

In cases of grievance redressal, the NBFC has to explain to the borrower the difference between products offered through the co-origination model as compared to its own products. The lender will be primarily responsible for providing the customer service and grievance redressal to the borrower. In case the complaint is not resolved within 30 days, the borrower would have the option to escalate the same with banking ombudsman/ ombudsman for NBFCs, concerned.

Both the lenders will follow independent provisioning requirements and create a framework for day to day monitoring and recovery of the loan, the guidelines state.

Source

Solution: c)

State Bank of India’s (SBI) plan to offer fixed-cum-floating home loan rates — known as teaser loans — is likely to hit a regulatory hurdle as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is uncomfortable with such products.

Teaser loans are those which charge comparatively lower rates of interest in the first few years after which the rates are increased.

Source

Solution: b)

The Caspian Sea is the world’s largest inland body of water, variously classed as the world’s largest lake or a full-fledged sea. It is an endorheic basin (a basin without outflows) located between Europe and Asia, to the east of the Caucasus Mountains and to the west of the broad steppe of Central Asia.

The primary inflows: Volga River, Ural River, Kura River, Terek River.

The Danube is Europe’s second longest river, after the Volga. It is located in Central and Eastern Europe.

Source

Solution: d)

India is the 2nd largest producer of silk in the world after China.

It is largest consumer of silk in the world.

It is the only country in the world that produces all 5 varieties of silk on a commercial scale– Mulberry, Oak Tasar & Tropical Tasar, Muga and Eri.

Holds the global monopoly for production of the famed golden ‘Muga’ silk.

About Silk Samagra:

• It is initiated by the Central Silk Board.
• The scheme comprises four major components viz. (i) Research & Development, Training, Transfer of Technology and Information Technology Initiatives, (ii) Seed Organizations, (iii) Coordination and Market Development and (iv) Quality Certification Systems (QCS) / Export Brand Promotion and Technology Up-gradation.
• The main objective of the scheme is to maintain Breeders stock, Breed improvement through R&D Projects, Development of mechanized practices, Technology translation through Sericulture Information Linkages and Knowledge System (SILKS) Portal, Mobile Application for Stakeholders and for seed quality monitoring etc.
• The main aim of “Silk Samagra” Scheme is to empower downtrodden, poor & backward tribal families through various activities of sericulture in the country including women.