Current Affairs For Bank, IBPS Exams - 22 January, 2014

Current Affairs For Bank, IBPS Exams

Mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp Ltd loved by global investors for its steady profit growth, faces an intensifying battle for business and market share as banks aggressively push home loans.
With India's economic flu hitting corporate lending, banks have cranked up efforts to tap into the country's housing loan demand, which has proven to be brick-hard by comparison.
Demand for homes, and loans, has been stoked by a persisting housing shortage as long-term demographic changes - urbanisation, rising incomes, more nuclear families - transform how and where people live in Asia's third-biggest economy.
With their eyes on the prize, banks such as state-run Bank of India (BOI) (BOI.NS) and ICICI Bank (ICBK.NS), the biggest private sector lender, are swarming the market with discounts and special offers, willing to even live with narrower margins.

Consumers flying between now and April 15 — typically a lean period for airlines — can save on bookings made till midnight on January 23. Hours after SpiceJet announced a three-day super sale of air tickets, offering a 50% discount to spot fares, Air India, IndiGo, GoAir followed suit, with Jet Airways expected to do the same.
Amber Dubey, partner and head for aerospace and defence at KPMG, said the offer would help stimulate demand in a lean quarter.
Among the offers, SpiceJet has offered 50% off on limited seats on all direct flights when booked at least 30 days prior to travel. Meanwhile, GoAir has also slashed prices by 40-50% with the discount depending on whether bookings are made 30 days or 60 days prior to travel.

WPI headline inflation for December was down to 6.2% from 7.5% in November, and core inflation was marginally up at 2.8% from 2.7% in November. CPI inflation for December printed 9.9%, down from 11.2%, and core-CPI (excluding food and fuel) was at 7.9%, marginally down from 8%.
A machine responding to these inflation data, based on the rules laid down in the RBI Governor’s December Policy Reaction Function (PRF), would have raised rates:
if the expected softening of food inflation does not materialise and translate into a significant reduction in headline inflation,
if inflation excluding food and fuel does not fall (presumably both for WPI and CPI), the Reserve Bank will act, including on off-policy dates if warranted.
But the actual decision might be more complicated.
In addition, estimates of conceptual constructs like a neutral rate or potential output gap remains subject to measurement and model errors.
At the heart of the decision, once again, will be the role of interest rates both in reviving investment and in anchoring inflation expectations. Growth concerns remain, particularly given the stress in banking sector assets. Overlaid on these concerns will be the view on inflation trajectory in 2014, given the long lags for monetary transmission.
Earlier, it seemed likely that the repo rate, at 7.75%, would allow RBI to pause for the rest of FY14 and then take a call in April or after, depending on how recovery shaped out in FY15.

Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova has caused the second huge women's upset at the Australian Open in as many days, downing third seed Maria Sharapova in the fourth round.
The 20th-seeded Cibulkova won 3-6 6-4 6-1 in a match lasting two hours and 12 minutes.
Sharapova's defeat came less than 24 hours after world No.1 Serena Williams went down to Ana Ivanovic, and further opened up the women's draw.
Two-time defending champion Victoria Azarenka is the only player left in contention to have previously won the Australian Open title.

The Wrestling Federation of India has announced the launch of the world's biggest pro-wrestling league - the Indian Wrestling League (IWL).
The inaugural IWL edition this year will feature six city-based franchises and wrestlers will be vying for $3.5 million in auction and prize money.
The six IWL cities in the inaugural year will be shortlisted out of eight cities in the fray - Delhi, Mohali (Punjab), Hisar (Haryana), Pune or Mumbai (Maharashtra), Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), Ranchi (Jharkhand) and Kolkata (West Bengal).
The IWL will be held under the aegis of WFI and as per the International Wrestling Federation (FILA) rules.
The league will feature both men and women wrestlers competing in a team format for the first time in the sport of wrestling.
Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh said Indian wrestling has a great tradition and the wrestlers are today winning medals at the Olympics and World Championships.