Pandora Bits

• Book letters to my daughter-Barack Obama
• Tembhli(Maharashtra)-AAdhar started from here
• Saraswati samman –Sujit Pattar
• Dada sahib phalke award-D.Ramanaidu
• Book masque of Africa-V.S. Naipaul
• Global competitiveness rank india-51,Switzerland no. 1
• Swawlamban scheme-100 rs/month pension for unorganized sector
• Rwanda president-Paul Kagame
• Jharkhand cm-Arjun Munda
• Kerala CM-V.Achutanand
• Chief vigilance commissioner-P.J. Thomas
• Nepal president-Shusila koirala
• Miss universe-mexico’s Navarette
• December 1-AAIDS day
• Germany,India elected for UN security council,india after 1992
• India-scotland-signed educational MOUs
• India-S.korea-social security agreement
• 17^th asean summit-hanoi(Vietnam)
• CSC-convention on supplimentry compensation
• 5^th east asia summit-hanoi
• National green tribunal head-lokeshwar dutt
• Miss world-alexandria mills of usa
• Man booker prize-Howard Jacobson for Frinkler question
• Noble prize for literature-Vargas lallosa(feast of goat)
• Noble prize medicine-Robert Edward
• Indradhanush-india and uk airforce joint exercise
• Book conversation with myself-nelson Mandela
• ICC awards-sachin player of the year,sehwag test player of the year,ab devilliers one day player of the year
• Lal bahadur shastri award-aruna roy
• India –malaysia did road pact
• Highest suicide rate –Sikkim
• Lok pal bill passed-3 members
• Cambridge university is the best
• Wheat price set at 1120/quintal
• Rescue operation in chile
• CWG best athelete-tracia smith
• US huge arms deal with Saudi Arabia
• Elephant-heritage animal
• Global hunger index india at 67^th
• K.VIJAY KUMAR-CRPF head
• Gender gap rank india-112^th
• Sikh of the year-chandhiok
• Hu jintao is most powerful person of the world
• Andhra CM-kiran kumar reddy
• Hindu best fiction award-manu joseph
• Sable scheme(rajiv Gandhi)for 11-18 year old girls
• NATO in afganistan only till-2014
• Indira Gandhi is 9^th most powerful in the list of most powerful
• South asian winter games-dehradun
• Yeonpeong island-north and south korea fight
• Indira Gandhi peace prize-lula disilva
• Repo,reverse repo rates-6.50 and 5.50
• SLR 24%
• Human development report india at 119
• Dilma rouseff-brazil president
• San su kyi belongs to Myanmar
• Mike russel wins world billiards tittle
• 25 january is voters day(important)
• 15 january-army day
• 30 jan-martyrs day
• 5^th G-2o summit in seol
• Book decision points-george bush
• 11^th india –EU summit in Brussels
• Conference on climate change-cancun
• Athlete of the year-david rudhisha and blanka vlasic
• Highest HIV cases in Manipur
• Golden peacock award-movie moner manush
• WWW meet-hyderabad
• Football world cups-2014,2018,2022-brazil,Russia,quatar
• Davis cup winner-serbia
• Tamilnadu and railways volleyball champions in men and women category
• Hero Honda golf championship-rikard karlberg
• TAPI pipeline-turkmenistan,afganistan,india,Pakistan
• Miss earth-nicole faria of india
• National chess champion-parimarjan nebi
• Common wealth india-38g,27s,36 bronze medals,3^rd position
• ASIAD india-14g,17s,33b,6^th position
• PNB-2/3 stake in ISC dana bank kazakstan
• Durand cup winner-chirag united
• March 3-defence day,march 8 is women’s day,15^th is consumer rights day
• RAW chief-s.k. tripathy
• Book a journey-tony blair
• First DSC prize-H.M. Naqvi
• Central bank completed 100 years,sponsor bancon meet in Mumbai
• Tunisia president-ben ali
• Egypt president-hosni Mubarak
• Chief information commissioner-satyanand mishra
• National science congress-kattan kulathar in Chennai
• Filmfare awards-dabang best film,shahrukh and kajol best actor actress for my name is khan,unit roy and kareena best supporting actor and actress,manna day gets lifetime achievement
• Best footballers-lionel messi and marta(women)
• BRIC new member is south Africa
• IMPS-international mobile payment service
• Rajasthan wins ranji trophy after beatinf baroda
• Pt bheemsen joshi belongs to classical music
• Australlian open
• Kim clijsters beat li na
• Dajkovic beat andy murray
• Bryan brothers beat bhupati and paes
• Japan win asia cup football
• Chief guest of republic day was susilo bambang president indonasia
• Sri Krishna committee related to telangna issue
• CNN-IBN person of the year-nitish kumar CM bihar
• TIME magazine person of the year-Mark zukerberg(facebook)

Banking & Finance Terminology

Absolute Advantage:
Country 'A' has an absolute advantage over country 'B' if the output per unit of input of A is higher than that of B.

Accelerator Principle:
Accelerator Principle of a company is the growth in ouput of the company that would induce a continuation in net investment.

Ad Valorem Tax:
It is a tax based on the value of the property.

Aggregate Demand:
It is the total of all the demand in a country. It can also be expressed as
Total Exports of a country - Total imports of the country.

Aggregate Supply:
Total value of good and services produced in an economy + {Imports-Exports}

Asset:
Any item of monetary value like bank accounts, real estate property, stocks,..etc

Barter System:
Trade which doesnt involve the exchange of money

Balance sheet:

Statement of the financial position of a company on a particular date, showing the nature and amount of a company’s assets and liabilities on a particular date, usually the end of the accounting year. The assets include fixed assets, investment, current assets (which include Inventories, sundry debtors, cash and bank balances) and loans and advances. The liabilities include shareholders’ fund (equity capital plus reserves). Loan funds (secured and unsecured loans) and current liabilities and provisions. The assets and liabilities must balance.

Bretton-Woods:
It is a monetary system that existed from the year 1946-1973. In this monetary system the value of dollar was calculated using gold reserves and every other country held it's currency at an exchange rate with US dollars.

Budget Deficit:
Budget Deficit = Goverment Expenditure- Goverment Revenues.

Call Money Market:
It is the market in which the Dealers and brokers locate and borrow money to satisfy their investment needs.

Capital Gains Tax:
Tax paid for the profit made through the sale of an asset.

Cash Reserve Ratio{CRR}:
It is determined by the RBI and is the minimum reserves each bank must hold to customer deposits and notes..
Both CRR and Statutory Liquidity Ratio{SLR} are used to combat inflation. Higher CRR and SLR decrease the money supply thereby combating inflation.

Centrally planned economy:
An economic system where the production & pricing of goods and services are determined by the goverment

Classical Economics:
The theory emphasizes the fact that free market can regulate themselves. This theory was framed by Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus and John Stuart Mill

Closed economy:
The economy is closed and doesnt have any contact with the rest of the world

Consumer Price Index:
It is the measure of the average price of consumer goods and services purchased by households. It is measured with 1982 as it's base year.


Countervailing Duties:
These are the duties that are imposed by a country on Foreign producers in order to neutralize the negative effects of other duties.

CRISIL or Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited:

Jointly sponsored by the UTI and the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI), CRISIL has been functioning since January 1988. It rates the safety and timely payment of interest on debt securities like debentures and fixed deposits of public and private sector companies. The rating, subjected to periodic review, is given in alphabetical symbols preceded by d for Debentures and F for Fixed Safety, an adequate safety, B inadequate safety, C high risk, D default.

Currency Appreciation:
Increase in the value of a currency over the other. It takes place when the market exchange rates change.

Current Account Deficit:
Current account deficit= Export-Import

Current GDP:
Current GDP is GDP expressed in the current prices of the period being measured

Customs Duty:
Duty levied on imports.

Deflation:
An economy is said to be in deflation when there is a fall in the prices of the commodities.

Direct Tax:
These are the taxes that are levied on us directly. Taxes on Corporate Income, Capital Gains tax, Personal Income tax and Fringe benefit tax fall under this category.

Dividends:
It is the portion of the profits made by a company that is paid to the share holders.

Exchange rate:
Also called as Foreign Exchange Rates or FOREX of a country specifies how much the country's currency is worth in terms of the other currency.

Fiscal Deficit:
Fiscal Deficit= Goverment Expenditure in the current fiscal year- Goverment Revenues in the fiscal year.

Fiscal Policy:
It is the use of goverment revenue to influence the country's economic situation.

Foreign Exchange:

The process of trading one currency for another. This takes place on the international exchange markets where trading sets the exchange rates of currencies. Foreign currency is required by individuals, business and governments to finance the purchase of goods and services and to make loans to other countries.

Foreign Direct Investment:
It is the investment made by a company in one country on building a factory in another country.

Foreign Institutional Investor:
Investor from a foreign country.

Free Trade:
In this type of trade there is no tariffs to the imported or exported goods between two countries.

Fringe Benefit:
These are the benefits that are offered to employees in addition to their salaries like lunch coupons, cars, free petrol etc.

GATT:
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade{GATT} was created in 1947 as a replacement to International Trade Organization (ITO). GATT was replaced by World Trade Organization in the year 1995.

GDP {Gross Domestic Product}:

Expenditure method:
GDP = consumption + gross investment + government spending + (exports - imports)
Note: GNP is similar to GDP except for the fact that GNP takes the country’s localities into account

Income method:
The formula for GDP measured using the income approach, called GDP(I), is:
GDP = Compensation of employees + Gross operating surplus + Gross mixed income + Taxes less subsidies on production and imports

GDP per capita:
GDP per capita is the contribution of every citizen of the country to the total GDP

Giffen goods:
These are the goods which people consume more as prices increase thereby violation law of demand. {Usually people purchase less as the prices increase}

Golden Handshake:

Compensation paid to an executive of a company on his displacement and especially on his retirement.

Government Securities {G-Secs}
These are issued by the RBI on behalf of the market borrowing programme. It includes State Government Securities, Central Government Securities and Treasury Bills.

Human development Index
Measurement based on GDP per capita, life expectancy and education

Inflation:
An economy is said to be in inflation when there is a rise in the price of the commodities.

Indirect Tax:
These are the taxes that we don't pay directly. It includes Excise Duty, Customs Duty, Service tax and Securities Transaction Tax.

Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (IRDA):
It is based in Hyderabad and the Mission of IRDA as stated in the act is "to protect the interests of the policyholders, to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth of the insurance industry and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto."

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act in 1999
This act allowed private companies into the insurance sector. It also increased the cap on FDI in insurance sector to 26 percent.

International Labour Organization{ILO}
Was established in 1919 and is a specialized UN agency that deals with labour issues.

Internation Monetary Fund:
It is an organization of 186 countries that aims at stabilizing foreign exchange rates and assisting the reconstruction of the international payment system. It was established in 1944.

International Poverty Line:
It is the minimum money expressed in dollars that an individual needs to achieve an adequate standard of living. For some years this Internation Poverty Line has been roughly around one dollar a day.

Macro-economics:
As the word suggests, it deals with the economic behaviour and performance of an entire country.


Microcredit
It is the provision of credit, parsimony, and other financial services and products of very small amount to the poor in semi-urban, rural and urban areas. It is to enable them to raise their income levels and improve their living standards.

Micro-economics:
This deals with studying how firms and households make decisions to allocate resources in markets. Market analysis is the main concept of Microeconomics.

Monetary Policy:
The policy through which the RBI controls the supply, availability and cost of money {Interset rate} in order to attain economic goals.

Net Domestic Product:
NDP= GDP-depreciation of capital goods in that country.
All are measured using Purchasing Power Parity

Nominal GDP:
Nominal GDP growth is GDP growth in nominal prices (unadjusted for price changes).

Parallel economy:
Alternative term for black economy, shadow economy and underground economy.

Politically Exposed Persons PEPs
Politically Exposed Persons are individuals who are or have been entrusted with prominent public functions in a foreign country.

Purchasing power parity:
Using market exchange values to equalize their purchasing power.

Quasi Money:
Also called as Near Money. These are the assets that can be easily converted to money without no loss in value.

Real GDP:
Real GDP growth is GDP growth adjusted for price changes(using ppp).

Repo rate:
The rates at which banks borrow money from RBI.

Reverse repo rate:
The rates at which RBI borrows money from the Banks.

Securities:
It is an instrument that has a financial value. It can be classified as debt securites{Bank notes(currency), bonds} and equity securities{Stocks}.

Statutory Liquidity Ratio
It is determined by the RBI and is the minimum amount that a bank must hold in the form of gold, cash and government securities.

Subsidy:
It is the payment given to the producers and distributors in a particular sector to prevent the downfall of that sector. For example goverment providers subsidies to small scale industry owners in order to prevent the downfall of small scale industries in the country.

The Wealth of Nations:
It is the famous book written by Adam Smith {Renowned economist}

Treasury Bills:
These are short term borrowing instruments that are issued by RBI. They are issued at discount to face value and on attaining maturity the maturity value is paid to the holder. The minimum amount in treasury bills is 25,000 Rs and thereafter they are available in multiples of 25,000.

Wholesale price Index:
Wholesale price Index is used to measure the inflation in our country and is the price of a basket of wholesale goods with it's base year as 1993-94.

World Bank:
It is an international financial institution that was established in the year 1945. It provides loans to poor countries in order to reduce poverty.

World Trade Organization:
Was established in the year 1995 in order to supervise international capital trade. 

Yield:

The actual rate of return received or obtainable from an investment, generally as the annual income calculated as a percentage of the purchase price of the investment. The rate of return for a capital investment project which equates the net capital expenditure with the discounted value of futures net cash inflows. The output of a process.

Books & Authors

            Indian Authors & Books

Famous Indian Authors and Books
S.No.	Name of Author	Books/Novels	Award/Achievements
1.	Aravind Adiga	The White Tiger Between the Assassinations	Won Man Booker Prize 2008 for the Novel “The White Tiger”
2.	Arundhati Roy	The God of Small Things Listening To Grass Hoppers: Field Notes on Democracy	Won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her first novel “The God of Small Things”. Awarded Sydney Peace Prize in 2004
3.	Anita Desai	Village by the Sea The Peacock Voices of the City Fire on the Mountain Clear Light of Day In Custody Fasting Feasting	Awarded the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize for “Fire on the Mountain”.  The “Village by the Sea” won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award.
4.	Bankim Chandra Chatterjee	Anand Math Brishbikkha Kapalkundala Nandini Mrinalini Vishbriksha Chandrasekhar Rajani Rajsimha Devi Chaudhurani	Author of Vande Mataram, the national song of India.  Anand Math contained the song “Bande Mataram”, which was later adopted as National Song.
5.	Jhumpa Lahiri	The Namesake Interpreter Of Maladies Unaccustomed Earth	Winner of 2000 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her book “Interpreter Of Maladies”. In February 2010, she was appointed a member of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities,appointed by U.S. President Barack Obama
6.	Khushwant Singh	We, Indians Train to Pakistan Women and Men in My Life Bride for the Sahib and Other Stories Love, Truth and A Little Malice	Rajya Sabha member from 1980 to 1986  Padma Bhushan award in the year 1974 Padma Vibhushan in the year 2007
7.	Kiran Desai	The Inheritance of Loss Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny	Won 2006 Man Booker Prize and 2006 National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award for “The Inheritance of Loss”
8.	Mulk Raj Anand	Bubble Coolie Prince Utouchable The Village Lost Child Morning Face Seven Summers Across the Black Waters The Sword and the Sickle The Private Life of an Indian Bridge’s Book of Beauty Confessions of a Lover	International Peace Prize from World Peace Council  Sahitya Akademi award Mulk Raj Anand was hailed as India’s Charles Dickens for first novel, “Untouchable”, (1935).
9.	R.K. Narayan	Malgudi Days The Guide The Dark Room The Bachelor of Arts The English Teacher The Financial Expert The Man-Eater of Malgudi The Vendor of Sweets The Grandmother’s Tale	Sahitya Akademi Award for The Guide in 1958  Padma Bhushan in 1964 Nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1989
10.	Rabindranath Tagore  (well known as “Gurudev”)	Lipika Chitra Chandalika Court Dancer Crescent Moon Gitanjali Kabi Kahini Post Office	First Asian who won Nobel Prize for his collection of poems, Gitanjali, in 1913  Composer of India’ s national anthem “Jana Gana Mana” Composer of Bangladesh’s national anthem “Amar Shonar Bangla”
11.	Salman Rushdie	Shame East West Jaguar Smile Moor’s Last Sigh The Satanic Verses Midnight’s  Children Shalimar The Clown	Awarded the ‘Booker of Bookers’ prize in 1993 for his novel “Midnight’s Children”
12.	Shobha De  (often known as India’s Jackie Collins)	Sisters Spouse Snapshots Sultry Days Starry Nights Surviving Men Small betrayals Second Thoughts Socialite Evenings Selective Memory	working as a columnist and writes for a fortnight magazine “The Week”
13.	Premchand / Munshi Premchand  (Real Name: Dhanpat Rai Srivastava)	Idgah Kafan Gaban Godaan Nirmala Poos Ki Raat Udhar Ki Ghadi Soz-e-Watan Shatranj Ke Khiladi Bade Ghar Ki Beti Panch Parameshvar Namak Ka Daroga	Great contribution in highlighting the realistic issues of the day-communalism, corruption, zamindari, debt, poverty, colonialism etc.
14.	V.S. Naipaul  (Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul)	Beyond Belief Guerrillas Half a Life A Bend In the River Magic Seeds An Area Of Darkness A Way In the World A House For Mr Biswas Among the Believers The Mystic Masseur The Mimic Men The Loss Of El Dorado In a Free State The Middle Passage Finding the Center India – a Million Mutinies Now India – a Wounded Civilization	Won Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001  Won the Booker Prize in 1971 for the book “In a Free State”  and became the first person of Indian origin do so
15.	Vikram Seth	The Golden Gate A Suitable Boy Arion and The Dolphin An Equal Music From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet Two Lives	Won Thomas Cook Travel Book Award for “From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet”  Won the WH Smith Literary Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize for his novel, A Suitable Boy.

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