Money and Banking (part – II)

Swabhimaan is a financial inclusion campaign launched on 10 February, 2011 by the Government of India. It promised to bring basic banking services to all unbanked villages in the country with population above 2000. The Swabhimaan Campaign facilitate opening of bank accounts, provide need based credit, remittance facilities and help to promote financial literacy in rural India using various models and technologies including branchless banking models through Business Correspondents. Under the scheme, subsidies and social security benefits are directly transferred to beneficiaries accounts.

'Gold Monetization Scheme' (GMS) and 'Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme' (SGB) were launched in 2015. The objective of GMS was to monetize the gold which is lying idle with individuals and households or institutions like banks, and the aim of SGB was to reduce the demand for physical gold and shift a part of domestic savings used for purchase of gold into financial savings. The main purpose of both the scheme was to mobilize the gold held by households and to put this gold into productive use and in the long run to reduce the Current Account Deficit (CAD) by reducing the country's reliance on imports of gold to meet the domestic demand.

The Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme was introduced in August, 1998 for providing adequate and timely credit support to farmers. The KCC scheme is implemented by Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and Small Finance Banks and Cooperatives. The KCC covers post-harvest expenses, produce marketing loans, consumption requirements of farmer household and investment credit requirements for agriculture and allied activities. In March, 2012, the government amended the KCC Scheme and now a KCC card holder can get an ATM-enabled Rupay debit card.

The Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme was introduced in August, 1998 for providing adequate and timely credit support to farmers. The KCC scheme is implemented by Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and Small Finance Banks and Cooperatives. The KCC covers post-harvest expenses, produce marketing loans, consumption requirements of farmer household and investment credit requirements for agriculture and allied activities. In March, 2012, the government amended the KCC Scheme and now a KCC card holder can get an ATM-enabled Rupay debit card.

The Banking Ombudsman is appointed by the Reserve Bank of India to redress customer complaints against deficiency in certain banking services. The order passed by the Banking Ombudsman is not final and binding on the parties concerned. And, the Banking Ombudsman does not charge any fee for filling and resolving customer's complaints. Hence, option (c) is the correct answer.

A credit rating agency is an entity which assesses the ability and willingness of the issuer company for timely payment of interest and principal on a debt instrument. In India, credit rating agencies are regulated by SEBI. The SEBI (Credit Rating Agencies) Regulations, 1999 govern the credit rating agencies and provide for eligibility criteria for registration of credit rating agencies, monitoring and review of ratings, requirements for a proper rating process, avoidance of conflict of interest and inspection of rating agencies by SEBI, amongst other things. Hence, statement 1 is incorrect.

ICRA Limited (ICRA) is an Indian independent and profes- sional investment information and credit rating agency. It is a Public Limited Company, with its shares listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

Brickwork Ratings (BWR) is a SEBI registered Indian credit rating agency. It offers rating services on Bank Loans, NCD, Commercial Paper, Fixed Deposits, Securitised Papers, Security Receipts, etc. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

CRISIL, CARE and ICRA are credit rating agencies in India.

Hence, option (a) gives the correct chronological order of these Credit Rating Agencies.

Set up in 1987, Credit Rating Information Service of India Ltd. (CRISIL) is one of the oldest credit rating agencies in India. It evaluates the credit worthiness of commercial entities on the basis of their strength, market share and board.

The Phillips Curve is an economic concept developed by A.W. Phillips in 1958, which states that inflation and unemployment have a stable and inverse relationship. The theory claims that with economic growth comes inflation, which in turn should lead to more jobs and less unemployment. It is used in short-run trade off between unemployment and inflation.